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"Saito" -Talking
'Louise' -Thinking/ Human-Human Telepathy
"Explosion!" -Spell
:Master: -Master/Familiar Telepathy
Beta'd by BigCC
Chapter 18: Recovery, Recriminations, and Relaxation
Later
Outside Tristain Academy of Magic
The carriage tore into the Academy's courtyard as if it were being pursued by demons, swiftly followed by a troop of armed women on horseback. Emblazoned on the side of the coach was the emblem of the de Vallière family, with the golden rim indicating the occupant was the sitting Duke or Duchess.
Riding at the front of the column was Chevalier Agnès de Milan wearing a bandage wrapped tightly around her head but otherwise unhurt from her confrontation with the Jewel Master, aside from her pride.
Almost as soon as the carriage and column ground to a halt, the Chevalier dismounted and started to organize the Musketeers.
"Squad one, secure the entrance of the Academy proper! Squad two, secure the site of battle!" Agnès ordered, "Squad three, with me to secure the Royal Family!"
Even as she had been saying this, the occupant of the carriage was helped down by the coach driver.
"Your Grace, you should still be resting!" he scolded Karin of the Heavy Wind. The coachman had been in her service ever since she was a young teenager and was given a great deal of leeway in how he spoke to her.
"Gaston, you can either help me inside or you can stay with the coach," Karin said grimly. She had at least one cracked rib and several cuts on her head from her fight with Johan, but she was bound and determined to personally check on her daughters, both real and pseudo-adopted.
"Hello, your Grace." Professor Colbert greeted her and the squad of Musketeers at the shattered main door of the Academy building. He was covered in bandages as well, around his head, over his chest and one of his arms was in a sling.
"Professor Colbert, what the hell happened here?!" Karin demanded, looking at the giant crystallised statue of herself in passing.
"Follow me. Her Majesty is waiting for you." He said, "All will be explained once at our destination."
"Is Princess Henrietta where we are going?" Agnès interjected rudely.
"Yes, she is." The Professor smiled in amusement, "I daresay you would have a hard time prying her away from Miss Vallière right now."
A snarling demand to know exactly why the Princes was so obdurate about leaving her friend's side, her daughter's side, rose up in Karin, but she suppressed it with difficulty. Clearly, events had taken place here that required a thorough debriefing.
As they walked through the Academy, the Duchess frowned. She knew the Academy's layout rather well from her own time attending it and she knew that they were going nowhere near the Headmaster's office. In fact, this was towards where the couple's quarters were, as she recalled.
"Miss Vallière was moved here after summoning Professor Saito." Colbert explained when she mentioned this to him, "They have separate beds and even a rather fine duelling room that I have been studying in my spare time. The magic from Saito's world is so advanced that I feel quite humbled."
"I feel rather sore after that arrogant louse attacked me." Karin stated dryly, "Although I don't doubt that my daughter's Familiar has left a more positive impression on you."
The bespectacled man winced at that.
Coming to a door, Colbert unlocked it by drawing a wand and tapping it, leading Karin, the coachman and Agnès in after the Chevalier assigned her squad to guard the door.
"Mother!" was the first thing that Karin heard as she stepped through the door, a sound that filled her with relief. Her world shrank to a narrow tunnel that contained only her youngest daughter, looking healthy and hale, if a bit tired. She pushed away from Gaston and swept Louise into a fierce hug.
"Oh my. Oh Louise, you're unharmed!" She breathed into her daughter's ear, "When I came around and was told that there were signs of combat at the Academy, I feared the worst."
"I was more worried about you!" Louise hugged her mother back with all her strength, tears falling down her cheeks, "I thought that you were badly hurt or worse!"
"It will take more than an arrogant jewel mage to put me down for good," Karin informed her with a smile. She stroked Louise's hair and sighed happily before standing with a wince.
While that had been going on, Agnès had rushed over to Princess Henrietta, who was sitting by Louise's bed and checked her over thoroughly. Once she was satisfied that her charge was safe, she actually hugged Henrietta before blushing and backing off, only for the Princess to laugh and pull her back in for another hug.
"I'm glad to see that you're alive too, Agnès." She informed the usually grim-faced woman, who was blushing bright red.
"Ohoho! It's nice to see such happy reunions." Osmond chuckled from his chair next to Saito's bed, with Emereldas sitting on the bed itself and tending to someone.
Wait…
"Is that…? What happened to Louise's Familiar?" Karin asked sharply, moving to have a better look at him.
Saito was pale and breathing quite heavily. He had been stripped of his clothes, revealing his bare chest, which was crisscrossed with faint scar lines. His right arm was noticeably paler than the rest of his body and had several magic circles of unknown origin around it. The succubus was weaving runes in the air in front of her, Eldritch ones that Karin didn't recognize.
"That is a bit of a tale, Karin." The Dowager-Queen sighed from her position at the table as she sipped a cup of tea, "The important thing to be told is that the man who attacked you was driven off by the combined efforts of Professor Saito, Louise, Professor Colbert and Headmaster Osmond."
"Fah! I barely did anything." The Headmaster snorted.
"Can someone please tell me what happened after I was knocked unconscious?" Karin said impatiently.
It all came out then; the Royal family's flight through the tunnel, Saito's revelation of Johan's identity, the desperate fight between the Onmyōji and the Jewel Master, Saito's apparent defeat and death, Louise destroying the giant ruby golem that Johan had commanded, Professor Colbert's spirited defence of the Academy entrance, Louise stepping up and actually using a talisman to call upon her Void magic and Saito's return and defeat of the German Mage, followed by his swift retreat.
As the story unfolded, Karin clutched Louise to her tightly, her heart in her mouth when she heard of how she had confronted the Jewel Master head-on like that.
"Louise, what were you thinking?!" she scolded her daughter.
"I was protecting my best friend and Princess, Mama!" the younger pinkette answered with a stubborn set to her jaw.
Karin sighed and massaged her temples before smiling. "While the mother in me is horrified at the danger you put yourself in, the warrior and Duchess parts are very proud of you, Louise. You have acquitted yourself against an enemy with honour. You know what that means."
"A…a custom swordwand?!" Louise squeaked. It was something of a family tradition in Karin's family that one could only have a custom swordwand made once they had confronted an enemy and survived. Of course, that tradition assumed that the Mage in question had their own swordwand to fight with. "But…but not even Éléonore or Cattelya have earned them!"
"Your sisters have either inherited your father's temperament when it comes to fighting or are otherwise unsuited for it." Karin informed her, "While Éléonore barks louder than you do, she is not soldier or warrior material because of her inability to recognize commoners as a legitimate threat. Her own arrogance blinds her to it. Cattelya is a pacifist and wouldn't be able to live the soldier's life. You are the only one of my children who might have ever earned one…and you have. I'll have it commissioned as soon as I return to the estate."
Louise nodded, her eyes wide with a mixture of disbelief and awe. For once in her life, she was getting her mother's approval for something that neither of her sisters were!
"Miss Emereldas, how is Mister Saito?" Henrietta asked as she glided over elegantly.
"Just Emereldas is fine." The succubus said, "And my master has mercifully not been badly harmed. He has frostbite on his right arm that I am healing as we speak, a host of minor cuts and bruises that will heal on their own and a moderate concussion that I am crafting a spell to eliminate. Other than that, he has merely expended more magic than he is accustomed to using and is in a deep slumber. He should awaken tomorrow at around midday, with the appetite of a horse."
"You're frustrated," Louise observed.
Emereldas shot her a scowl. "No, I am angry. I understand that he could not summon Kaede or myself, as we would have been useless against a Jewel Sorcerer, but he could have taken two minutes to contact us telepathically so we weren't worried out of our minds when we felt something wrong. I'll have to have words with him once he makes a full recovery."
"While that is of importance to you, I am more concerned by the fact that someone from your master's world attacked the Royal family just a short time after…Mr. Saito…explained his suspicions regarding the origin of the rifled arquebuses to us." Agnès said with her familiar scowl reappearing on her face.
"I sincerely doubt that Johan von Leopold had anything to do with the assassination attempt on the pretty princess here." The succubus snorted, "Everything I've heard about the man back home indicates he is a Mage Supremacist. The Mages stand atop the Mundane and do as they please to them, the strong dominating the weak. It is his guiding principle. That and he's too much of a Mage's Mage to have someone gun down his target. No, if everything you've all told me is true, it's simply a very big coincidence that he attacked so soon afterward."
"Then that leaves the possibility of yet another mage from their world wandering around with designs on the Royal family, and this one isn't just after the sceptre." Karin frowned.
"Why was Johan after that sceptre?" Emereldas asked and pointed at the item in question, even as she continued sketching runes in mid-air with her other hand, "From everything I can sense, it's just another casting tool."
Henrietta eyed the sceptre clutched in her hands as if it were a wild animal ready to bite her. "I really have no idea. It has no special abilities as far as I am aware. It is the traditional casting instrument of the Tristainian Royal Family's Heir Primus and Apparent until they have children. From what I can recall, it was made by the founding King of Tristainia as his personal presence sceptre, as opposed to the official Sceptre of State or the Sceptre of War. Mother?"
"That is what I am aware of as well." Marie nodded tiredly, "I will have the Royal Archivist search through the records of King Tristain's time to confirm that it has no special function. I will also have to dispatch warning to Gallia and Romania about this Johan von Leopold. If he's been stymied here, he might try another country."
"That depends." Emereldas said, "Where did he pull that jewel he used to flee the area from?"
"A pouch around his neck," Louise answered.
"Then that was his absolute last resort jewel." The succubus grinned evilly, "He was sent to this world from his laboratory, where he would have had plenty of jewels ready at hand, so he wouldn't have carried many on him…perhaps a dozen at most. We've confirmed that over half of that number were destroyed today; four by Duchess de Vallière, two by my master and one by my master's Apprentice. The fact that he used his last resort jewel indicates one of two things; either he didn't have the other jewels on him or they no longer exist for him to use. As he is no fool, I would suggest that the latter suggestion is correct."
"So he's currently…weak? Bereft of his casting tools?" Karin asked slowly.
"Weak for a given value of weak. He is still a superior spellcaster with a superior system of magic." Emereldas cautioned her, "He is likely going to hole up at wherever he's found a hideaway as he goes through the rituals to create catalyst jewels to replenish his stock. After say, a couple of months to half a year, he may very well try again."
"In which case, we will be better prepared for him." Marie stated coldly, "According to Agnès, the main reason that the guards were so utterly ineffective was due to the jewel knights being able to simply shatter their mundane weapons after a single hit. I shall be looking into remedying that situation as soon as is possible."
A fair few of the occupants of the room felt a chill going up their spine at the ice-cold determination that the Dowager-Queen spoke with. She hadn't spoken with such determination since the death of her husband. Evidently seeing her castle attacked and her daughter threatened had awoken the fires within her once more.
"My master is skilled at engraving kanji of power onto items." Emereldas spoke up with a smile, "He can probably mass-produce weapons for the use of your castle guard using his magic."
"Wouldn't magic weapons need a Mage's willpower to take the magic from?" Karin asked.
The succubus rolled her eyes. "Again with that ridiculous term. Call it magic power. And no, they wouldn't. The same formula that my master uses to draw magic from the ambient magical field with his talismans can be altered to draw it in automatically up to a certain limit. I have seen the altered sequence in several history books in Pandemonium and I can provide him with it at a day's notice."
"Why would you unilaterally offer your masters service like this?" Agnès asked suspiciously.
"One, as punishment for being inconsiderate to Kaede and myself." Emereldas answered instantly, "Two, my master has grown fond of your mistress, so he would likely issue the offer himself. Finally, I can actually negotiate payment for him, whereas he would have offered his services for free."
"You're fulfilling your duties as a Familiar in looking out for his best interests, whilst punishing him for being too noble and proud." Marie nodded, "Very well. Let us bargain then."
Watching the bargaining and haggling session between the Dowager-Queen of Tristain and the five-hundred-year-old succubus was quite the spectacle to watch, entrancing the adults and Henrietta. While it went on, Louise brooded about Emereldas' words earlier, when she had mentioned that Saito was fond of Henrietta. She was glad her Master/Familiar liked her childhood playmate, she really was. But still, a sense of jealousy was welling up in her.
She was Saito's Master/Apprentice, damn it. She was the one who had created the first Void Talisman in a thousand years and used it. Wasn't he fond of her too? And why the hell was she so…so…so jealous of her best friend and liege lady being liked by Saito?! She was not falling for him, no way! That way lay heartbreak!
She conveniently forgot that her major hang-up previously had been the fact that he was a Familiar.
On her forehead, the wand mark of an Apprentice shone brightly before fading away.
The Next Day
Saito and Louise's Suite
As Emereldas had predicted, Saito woke up the next day at noon and devoured enough food in one sitting to feed three people. This delighted a certain black-haired maid, as it allowed her to show her master one of her most womanly aspects: her skill at cooking. Louise wasn't there to disapprove, as she was in classes, while Henrietta and her mother were in a conference with Osmond.
"Whew…I couldn't eat another bite." The onmyōji said at last, "That was delicious, Siesta. My full compliments to the chef."
Siesta blushed prettily at the comparatively effusive praise. "Th-thank you, master Saito. I've only been assisting the cooks in the Academy kitchen, but back home, I was the one who cooked most of the family meals while my mother worked at the inn."
"Well I'm glad that you reserve your real cooking skills outside of your family for Louise and me," Saito said with a smile, which made the maids cheeks flush an even deeper shade of red.
"I-I'd better take the dishes to get washed up." She stuttered and gathered the numerous wooden dishes up with a speed and grace that Saito wouldn't have thought possible and piled them high on the trolley she had used to bring them to him in the first place.
When she bustled out of the room, a dry voice spoke up, "Master, she wants you so bad I can taste it."
"I could tell that, funnily enough." Saito replied equally as dry, "But I will not take advantage of her."
"And if she winds up in your bed naked and asking for you to take her and make her a woman?" the succubus asked pointedly as she materialized out of the shadows.
The Japanese boy flushed and then grabbed his nose to stop an impending nosebleed at the thought before scowling slightly at his Prime Protective Demon.
"It would be completely rude to not do something in that situation." He said in a nasal voice as he tested his nose to make sure that the nosebleed had truly been stopped, "But that's a moot point because Louise sleeps in here too, and I'm pretty certain that Siesta doesn't want her first time to involve an unwilling voyeur in her Mistress."
"The pinkette midget also craves your attention, master." Emereldas informed him, "As does that fire-haired Mage who she doesn't get along with. She'd make a good succubus, that one."
Saito rolled his eyes. "She is a primary fire mage, Emereldas, one who is affected by the benign side of her primary element by quite a bit. She's passionate, which just so happens to resonate with her Germanian lack of inhibition when it comes to bedroom matters. I doubt she'd be a good fit for the duties of a succubus."
All demons from Hell, or Pandemonium as the inhabitants called it, were aligned with at least one of the Seven Deadly Sins; Greed, Gluttony, Lust, Pride, Vanity, Sloth and Wrath. Some were associated with up to two. A succubus was, obviously, solidly under Lust. The duty of the demons was to punish those humans who took those sins to extremes. Depending on how far the humans had taken their excesses, the punishments could greatly range between highly embarrassing and distinctly torturous, all the way to torturously fatal. Punishing humans was how demons could rank up faster than allowing simple age to do it for them.
With the number of sinful humans in multiple parallel worlds, there were no shortages of opportunities for demons to do their work.
"You never know…she might come to enjoy it." Emereldas smirked.
"No trying to convert my students into succubae." The onmyōji ordered sternly. A succubus could corrupt and convert a human woman into a Lesser Succubus, which was officially ranked at Circle 1, trapped in an ethereal, ghostly form and only able to feed on the lustful dreams of humans for at least fifty years before they ranked up to Circle 2.
"By your command, my master." Emereldas bowed her head obediently, "Now I wish to discuss your actions yesterday…"
He took one look at her, stared into the distance for a moment, and then immediately bowed his head contritely.
"I'm sorry." Saito said immediately, "When I saw Johan…I panicked. One of the leaders of the Covenant of Thirteen, here? Coming at my location fully armed and ready for battle? I admit that it threw my thought processes out of whack. I should have contacted you both immediately to let you know the situation."
"Using the mental link that we share to glance into my mind is very bad form, master." Emereldas said reprovingly, "It also takes the fun out of it. I had an epic-level speech planned, you know."
"Yes, I could tell." Her master said dryly, "That's why I'm quite eager to not get lectured at. I also see that you arranged a suitable punishment for me, as well as giving me access to a new talisman formula."
"That is such a bad habit of yours, master!" the succubus pouted.
"I've only done it four times since we contracted." Saito pointed out, "There's something else you want to tell me, but I can't tell what it is."
In answer, Emereldas picked up something from his bedside table and handed it to him. It was his official Onmyōji Junior Adept pendant, emblazoned with the Seiman. He looked at it in puzzlement before something caught his eye. Around the circumference of the round pendant was a back line that stretched anticlockwise from the topmost point of the pentacle to the tip of the pentacle to the right of it.
"Impossible." Saito stated flatly, "Is this an illusion?"
"I swear by our contract, this is not an illusion of mine or of any of the other mages of your acquaintances." The succubus stated firmly, and Saito was forced to believe her. A demon was many things, but once they signed a contract, they fulfilled it to the letter. To swear upon a signed contract was one of the most solemn oaths a demon could make.
"But…but…how?" he asked, flabbergasted. Carved into both the metal of the pendant and into the back of the jade that made up the jewel portion of it was a complicated spell formula that was able to accurately measure his magical power, spellcasting puissance and other things he didn't know about. Once the criteria for a certain rank within the Imperial Ministry of Onmyōji was completed, the pendant would automatically draw upon his magic and change to suit that new rank. The black line was a visible indicator of his progress and automatically updated itself upon contact with his skin.
The amount of progress that he was seeing on his pendant was very good, solid progress to the rank of Senior Adept…for someone who had been working hard for at least a year. It didn't take much to go from Junior Adept to Senior Adept; just a solid addition to your basic skillset, a bit of training to increase your magical power and remaining form to the basic tenants of the Onmyōji Creed. It shouldn't be possible for him to advance over a year's worth of progress in just over a month.
"I suspect that your increase in reserves has something to do with it, master." Emereldas said in amusement at seeing her usually cool and calm master taken aback so thoroughly, "How much has your Seimei Index Rating gone up since you arrived here? A thousand?"
"I measured it yesterday morning and it had gone up by almost fifteen-hundred," Saito replied automatically, his mind still stunned.
"Fifteen-hundred. An increase that takes most mystics a decade to accrue." His Prime Protective Demon smirked, "That's likely most of the reason right there. You have also been unconsciously polishing your basics when teaching the pink midget kanji and you have greatly improved your combat casting thanks to your battles."
Colbert, the assassination attempt on Princess Henrietta, Fouquet and Johan, all within a small timeframe. Yes, all of that would certainly have that sort of effect on his growth.
"To this extent though…" he muttered in disbelief, "At the current rate that it's growing, I have only a couple of weeks, a month tops, before I advance to Senior Adept!"
"And when that happens, I want you to summon more Familiars." Emereldas stated bluntly, "Hopefully, you will summon something non-demonic in origin, so you can summon them instead of us when that Jewel Sorcerer returns for round two."
Leaving succubae to one side, Oni were at least part demonic in origin, although nobody in Saito's world knew how that came to be. It didn't determine their nature, far from it, but it did mean that anti-demon countermeasures worked on them rather effectively, including exorcisms and divine mysteries. Jewel Sorcery had been created and developed partially as a countermeasure against demons, so it worked on Oni…thus on Kaede.
"You have to be joking!" Saito spluttered, "A summoning? Here? With no Cloister?!"
"Kaede and myself can help you create a room just as solid against possible attacks and intrusions as the Cloister of Rituals." Emereldas countered his argument calmly, "She has been taught magic by her father, who was of the Black Oni Clan. I am twice her age and possess detailed knowledge of countermeasures against almost every species of supernatural intrusion you can think of. It can be done."
The onmyōji nodded slowly. The Black Oni Clan, Shuten-dōji's clan, specialized in the use of Oni Magic and mysticism. They were renowned for their spellcraft and magical power, and before Kurotama had fled with his pregnant wife Byakuren, he had been one of the foremost spellcasters of the tribe. Emereldas was one of youngest succubae in existence to achieve Circle 8, soon to be Circle 9, and it wasn't because she was magically powerful; it was due to her ability to memorise any spell that she had seen even in passing, thanks to almost permanently shapeshifting her eyes into the hyper-reactive eyes of a Hyakume. She had an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of spells, cantrips, rituals, invocations, and sorcery that was frankly dizzying for Saito to consider how much of a novice he was by comparison.
He was fairly certain that, had she wished to, Emereldas could have broken the bond between them with such contemptible ease that it would barely be a twitch of her fingers. Instead, she was almost devoted to him, which was a very humbling experience for him.
"…assuming I agree…there's no guarantee the Familiars I summon will be sentient or even sapient." He pointed out, "I might get a rabid hellhound or a wild leviathan or something."
Emereldas just looked at him with one eyebrow raised. "So long as you cast the spell correctly, there will be no issues. And, for the record, a summoning generally brings Familiars complementary to the ones previously summoned, as well as the Mage. I'm almost certain that they will be humanoid."
"And the basis for that confidence is…?"
"Woman's intuition."
Saito just deadpanned at his Familiar. He knew better than to say anything though, as it was never wise to question that particular instinct. At least so long as you liked your head attached to your shoulders.
Women, especially women from supernatural species, were scary as hell when angered. Speaking of which…
"…have you contacted Kaede, by the way?" Saito asked cautiously.
"Oh yes. She's not exactly happy with you, master." Emereldas said innocently, "She's wanting you to summon her so she can…discuss…the matter with you in person."
"I'm going to get punched through a castle wall, aren't I?!" the onmyōji moaned.
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Later
Noble Holding Cells, Royal Castle, Tristainia
"That bitch!" Wardes growled as he stared at the mirror reflection before him, especially at the ugly wound that marred his face. Despite the healing poultices that had been slathered across it for the past day, it hadn't healed much at all.
While part of that was due to the nature of the healing poultices being merely an accelerant to the natural healing process, he knew damn well that it was mostly the fault of that unmitigated bitch Karin de Vallière! She had somehow used wind magic to make the seemingly clean cut jagged and misshapen; leaving him looking as if someone had tried to take most of his head off with a flamberge!
'If I ever get the chance, I will put that pretentious trollop in her place!' he swore to himself as he glared around the luxurious cell he was in. It was actually more opulent than his own mansion had been, which just made this situation all the more galling.
Had he managed to marry the third daughter of the de Vallière family, he could have manipulated things to become the new ruler of Tristain after the Reconquista conquered it. The current civil war in Albion was merely the first step in the Reconquista's plan to rule over all of Halkaginia. Well, he wouldn't be a ruler exactly; he'd be something like a governor of the area that used to be Tristain. The point still stands.
"My, my…how the mighty have fallen." A rasping voice chuckled from the door. Wardes turned to see a thin-faced man wearing a rich deep purple robe lined with jewels around the collar and a skullcap over his white hair.
"Count Richemont, the Minister of Finance." Wardes drawled, "To what do I owe the honour of a visit from such an august personage such as yourself?"
"Our…mutual friends…have expressed their disapproval of this situation that you and Matilda of Sachsen-Gotha have allowed yourselves to be drawn into." The almost skeletally thin man smirked grimly as he saw the surprise in the disgraced noble's eyes.
"Well, well…to think that someone of your rank is a Reconquista also…" Wardes chuckled, "So what now? Are you here to silence us?"
"Perish the thought, my friend." Richemont replied with a hollow chuckle, "I am here to release you both. The war in Albion is drawing too close to a stalemate for our liking, so two more mages of your skill levels will be…invaluable. Fight hard enough and you may yet grasp the crown for which you cast your loyalty aside for…as well as wipe the stain of defeat from your name."
"I should like to see anyone fight against Karin of the Heavy Wind on an even and fair field and emerge unscathed or even victorious." The disgraced noble growled, touching his wound again.
The Finance Minister smirked again tauntingly, as if to say 'I know something you don't know!' How childish of the man.
"Well then, shall we be going?" Richemont asked as he pushed the door open.
"The guard?"
"Unconscious."
"Not dead?" Wardes was surprised.
"Our soft-hearted princess will be less strident about pursuing you if there are no fatalities during your break out." The Count answered as he shuffled down the corridor and past the sprawled figure of a lone guard in full armour, "And, as luck would have it, someone attacked the Castle and the Academy yesterday, disabling a great many of the usual Castle Guard, thinning the ranks and making them pull guards of non-critical areas to cover most of the regular approaches. Additionally, the Royal Family is at the Academy, taking with them the Musketeer Corps."
"A fortuitous coincidence," Wardes muttered, keeping an eye out for any wandering guards.
"It would be if I knew who the culprit was." Richemont grunted, "No clue who he was, but it was just a single man! One man blew through thirty guards and five nobles, including Karin of the Heavy Wind and then left in pursuit of the Princess. Feh. Variables in the plan need to be extinguished."
The last part had been mutter so quietly that Wardes was almost certain that he hadn't been supposed to hear it. He also made a note to have an emergency bolthole set up as soon as he had the funds, as well as an escape route. A variable could be an unplanned element of a plan…but it could also be an element of a plan that has outlived its usefulness.
Wardes had no intention of being 'cleaned' away once he had done what his nominal masters wanted him to do. Also, he intended to find out exactly who had defeated Karin. She was no slouch, she was better than he was in fact, and he wanted to find out how she had lost and to whom.
Several minutes later, a flurry of Fire Dragons, hiding a Wind Dragon bearing two passengers, took flight from the Royal Castle's Dragon Stables, flames licking the empty building behind them.
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Next Chapter: Summer Break and Mon-Mon's Mistake
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