"Talking"
"Thinking"
[Status Magic or other reference to a system or power]
…
They were back on the road leaving Melromarc by midday. They didn't know how well Siltvelt would treat them, but anything is better than here.
...
The family kept an even pace on the road, stopping three times a day for food and to level Teal and Leon more. Teal was nearly level 40 herself, but Leon was level 31 and made it known that he didn't want to be weaker than everyone else. That he wanted to class upgrade the same time as everyone else and at level 40. They'd add a little more grinding in, but it was a gamble if he'd be level 40 by the time they reach the Siltvelt dragon hourglass. Filo seemed to not mind Leon matching her level though, which surprised them all.
Naofumi considered his actions justified and all he did was knock out some guards. Still, he was being reminded (quite often) by Raphtalia that they should of done things differently. Naofumi agreed and it frustrated him. He let anger dictate the plan. He couldn't let that happen with his shield ready to switch to [Wrath Shield] whenever he slips too far.
At the same time, they had been traveling for a few days now and they had heard nothing. Maybe Naofumi and the king just brought out the worst in each other? Regardless, the result was that he and his family were being left alone for the moment. It'd be a long trip to Siltvelt though, plenty of time for trash to pull something. Naofumi went back to working on an accessory, looking forward to tomorrow, the day Monti could fly again.
...
In the royal castle
...
No matter how the king tried to stamp out the growing rumors, he couldn't get the knights to stop gossiping. It was a distraction from a far more important concern. He needed to pursue the shield hero and put him in irons. His childish abandonment of Melromarc would not be taken quietly. He needed the other heroes to assist. As much as he liked to believe otherwise, the shield hero was growing beyond his ability to control without great acts.
While he chose to focus on things far from him, that simply left him vulnerable to threats close to him. That's because the knights weren't just spreading rumors, they were passing on information about Naofumi and the king's interactions, that Princess Melty had her power usurped despite being above the king, a mere royal consort, and Melty even being declared the queen's representative. That it was becoming clearer and clearer to most of the knights that the king needed to be stopped or at the very least, Princess Melty freed.
This happened so quickly. They found out who was and was not on their side rather quickly. They had those among them with some authority move them to other locations. In one case, the commander that gave the shield hero grief was a problem, being above anyone on their side. They had no choice but to falsify documents showing a request for leave then gutting the commander in secret. Over the course of less than a week, they made a plan. The church caught wind of it just a little too late, but even if they had earlier, it would have changed nothing. The knights had their priorities straight and any attempt to lead their effort elsewhere would be pointless.
The plan took place just before court was to be held. Everyone important would be in the throne room, away from their target, Melty.
Melty was angry at first, but over the course of several days it became sadness. She thought she knew her father, but his action seemed more than could be excused with lesser words. He acted on malice whenever the shield hero was involved. It was like he was a different person at the mere mention of Naofumi. She had long since stopped trying to figure out why he was doing this and had begun to focus on how to leave.
The plan was only partly together when she heard heavy fighting outside her door. She feared the worst.
Three knights ran inside. Two she knew as Ake and his friend who both joined Naofumi during the wave. The third was the scarred knight that had enough of this farce.
"Princess Melty, we've come to retrieve you. Your father is to hold court any minute."
Melty's happiness became anger, "You mean I am to hold court."
The knights shared a smile. As they escorted her out, she saw six heavily wounded guards on the ground and easily four dozen knights standing in the halls waiting for their orders. They moved toward the throne room as seemingly more and more knights joined her. Along the way, they informed her of Naofumi leaving. Before she reached the throne room, they were 100 strong. They waited for the king to declare court before entering.
The doors slammed open with as much noise as they could as Melty and the 100 knights entered the room. At the same time, every knight that was already in the room turned on a dime as they surrounded the king and anyone else they believed would be trouble.
"What is the meaning of this!?" The king was in shock, but his eyes rested on Melty.
"Melty!? What are you doing? I gave the guards explicit orders."
"And what orders were those?" Melty asked, knowingly.
"They were to keep you safe." The king lied.
"I'm safe here." She was fishing for an answer, she wanted this over quickly.
"But you would be safer in your room-"
"So you ordered me to remain in my room, unable to escape, for 8 days?"
"It was all for your protection. You were trying to make rash decisions that would put you in grave danger. I can't let anything happen to you."
"At least your love for me remains, father..."
"All lesser nobles are here as witnesses. My father, Aultcray Melromarc XXXII, just admitted to keeping me from exercising my authority, as both crown princess and as the queen's declared representative. As you have admitted this after declaring court, your words are now to be taken to their fullest legal value. I hereby place you under arrest for the safety of the kingdom and order you placed in the dungeons!"
Melty had to keep herself from crying as she said those words. The king fought, but against so many knights, he was quickly taken into custody.
"Dungeons are full, Princess." A knight informed her.
"We could place him under house arrest?" Ake offered.
"No." Melty said firmly.
"Look through the prisoners and free someone who is the closest to being released." She needed to look strong here.
Looking weak is how she was placed in her room, unable to help. She was realizing the truth of her mother's authority. It was an act. All authority was. Understanding that made Melty nervous, but also left her with the answers she needed. Melty worked up the nerve to set on the throne she had just removed her father from.
"Is there any emergency rulings required?" She asked the still reeling nobles.
No one responded.
"Then onto my first order of business. I declare a state of emergency. I will be leaving to retrieve the shield hero before he leaves our borders and do my part in patching up relations with him. To do this, I will be taking a host of knights with me. All other royal knights are to remain in the castle and take alternating shifts, per the emergency protocols. I ask all lesser nobles to also do their part to guard the castle, but not from inside. Only royal guards and the staff may enter here until my return."
The knight raised their fists and swords. The nobles around them seeing all the knights following Melty quickly saw where the wind was blowing and stepped into line.
...
Briarhaven
...
Liviccic and Sophia were inside a sturdy coach being pulled by a few wild filolials they found. They simply asked them to pull the coach and they did. Got to love a filolial's love for pulling.
Behind them by about half a mile was all of his giant skeletons pulling an armored wagon with the krakens remains on it.
They planned to strike before the people knew it was him or that anything was wrong. He'd avoid killing, but an example had to be made, otherwise they'd never accept him as his father's replacement, let alone accept Sophia living amongst them.
They arrived.
Briarhaven was another of the few proper cities in Melromarc, one separated into three sections by rock walls and metal fences. The outer most section had no wall. Most of the average citizens lived here, with open travel to the surrounding farmland that most of them worked. The second layer is guarded lightly and has eight gates leading in and out of its fenced area. This was where the market was with its various businesses. The most central part of the city had a single entrance in and out of it's stone walled area, which was heavily guarded. This was where the lord and other rich families lived, as well as the place their renowned soldiers were trained.
Briarhaven always treated its knights as just short of nobles themselves. At some point long ago, Briarhaven had a few renowned knights of great talent and power. The lord at the time (Liviccic's ancestor) offered them incredibly high pay and treatment. Because of this, they remained loyal to their dying days and in that time, defended the people and trained many promising soldiers. The current lord also offered these trained soldiers the same treatment as the knights that once trained them, and so it was a self-perpetuating cycle.
Most of the strongest and most talented became adventures, meaning that knights, guards, and soldiers were often not the best in terms of level, stats, training, etc. Briarhaven was the one place where the truly strong and talented could serve in a knight role, but still receive treatment and pay appropriate for what they can do.
The coach was able to make it into the market district without issue, the rest would wait outside the city limits for now. As the coach came to a stop, the two of them knew they were at the gate to his home.
The guard at the gate called to the coach driver, "Hold. Who are you transporting? Is this a planned visit?"
The driver couldn't answer because it was the Skull Captain in heavy clothes. Liviccic opened the coach and stepped out to meet the guard.
"Williams? Not ideal, but maybe that's for the best... I've returned."
"You again!? We've told you before that you are not our lord. Do I have to get the others and drag your ass out of town again? Actually, if you haven't learned, we may need to try something a little more... permanent."
The guard then blew a whistle as he readied his weapon.
"I'm still quite angry about what you people did to me, but I also must begin acting as lord if I ever hope to be accepted as such... So, in my capacity as lord, I offer you a chance to surrender and ask forgiveness. If such actions are taken, I will reduce your punishment in an attempt to be merciful." Liviccic offered while also readying his staff and calling for some of his hidden forces.
The guard, Williams, was so angered by the offer of mercy that he did not wait for backup as he leveled his pike and charged Liviccic. Liviccic did not move as the pike nearly reached him before being deflected to the ground and held there by the Skull Captain.
"So you have one corpse with you and you expect anything to change? Boris nearly kicked your ass all by himself!" Williams said as he tried to lift his weapon, but could not overpower the Skull Captain.
As they struggled a moment, multiple guards ran towards them, answering the whistle's call. At that, Liviccic went for the kill. The Skull Captain slid his blade up the shaft of the pike it was holding down. Williams saw this and took one hand off the pike and attempted to grab a different weapon, a shortsword, as a means of intercepting and deflecting the blow. He was too slow, as the Skull Captain cut Williams head clean off his shoulders. The other guards seeing this gasped.
Liviccic turned to see these new arrivals.
"I've returned. Who else would like to stop me from reaching my home?" Was all he said.
He looked at the four that approached. One of them assisted in his removal, the other three may very well assist Liviccic.
"You. I ask you to stand down and apologize for you actions... before you join Williams." Liviccic was once again offering mercy, but did it in such a way as to hopefully push him into making the wrong decision.
Not just that knight, but two of the others drew their weapons as well. That saddened Liviccic, but he knew more than just those that drove him out before felt the same.
The forth knight, a young woman, spoke. "What are you doing? That's the young lord!?"
The three knights didn't slow down as they readied their weapons, a sword and shield, two axes and another pike.
"Do you want to help?" Liviccic asked.
"I suppose." Sophia replied. She exited the coach too quickly for most to follow.
The pike was blocked by Liviccic himself, his staff more than strong enough to take the hit. The Skull Captain began exchanging blows with the one using a sword and shield. Lastly, Sophia appeared in her human form before the man with the two axes and caught each arm with her two large spider legs on either side of her midsection. She stepped forward and bit the man's neck, injecting him with venom.
The man with the pike tried several times to bypass Liviccic's blocks before backing up and throwing his pike like a javelin. Liviccic struck the weapon away only to see the man up in his face with a dagger. Liviccic used his free hand to grab the man's arm that held the dagger.
[Corrupt]
Liviccic placed a crushing curse into the man's armor. After a moment, most of his armor began caving in on him as he dropped his weapon and tried to rip his armor off, piece by piece, trying to avoid death.
"What the hell is this!? You didn't have something like this before!"
Liviccic ignored him and waited for the moment the man removed his helmet to stop his head from being caved in. With a single swing of the staff, the man's head was nearly removed from the blunt force.
Even with the third knight having a sword and shield, while the Skull Captain only had the one sword, the power difference was overwhelming. With each swing of the sword, the Skull Captain ran at least two inches into the shield. Less than a minute into their 'fight' and the man's shield was in pieces and his sword was on the ground.
"I yield! I yield!" The man cried. The Skull Captain stopped a moment.
"How dare you!" Liviccic yelled. "You would come to take my life with conviction so weak that you fold at the face of death? Someone like you shouldn't have the ability to kill!"
The man laid there in shame.
The man Sophia had poisoned struggled for a short time afterwards before growing still. She dropped him once he did. She and Liviccic turned to the last one on the ground.
"Wha-What are you doing? I yielded!" The man said as the Skull Captain began to swing at the man again.
"I can't accept that. You bore steel against me, the man who is the rightful lord of Briarhaven. You are a knight of Briarhaven. I can't tolerate treachery. You should have surrendered when prompted."
"Hmm, maybe calling yourself a 'man' is going a bit far?" Sophia teased.
Liviccic was being too serious to retort as he didn't take his eyes off the man until the Skull Captain had broken his sword and killed the man. Afterwards, he turned to the female knight that stood back, bewildered.
"Let everyone know I've returned and let Boris and his little gang know that he can either accept punishment or challenge me further." He ordered her.
She quickly knelt, "At once, my lord." She stood and ran off.
"Do you think she'll do as you say?" Sophia pondered aloud.
"It doesn't really matter. Let's go through the gates quickly. Regardless of how many I have to fight, let's not do it here. Besides... killing traitors in front of the knights and minor nobles would have benefits." Liviccic said.
The two made it through the gate, using their combined strength to open the large metal gate that was meant to be opened from the other side with a series of ropes and weights.
Once they and the coach were inside, they let the gate go back to its resting position. A number of knights saw the great display of strength from the pair and quickly identified Liviccic.
"Young lord? Is that you? Thank heavens you've returned... Who... or what is she?"
"Her name is Sophia, no other information will be given at this time. I need it known that I've returned."
"...Should we not deal with certain elements, before-"
"Good, you are aware. I plan on dealing with them in just a bit. I don't know how many side with either of us yet though. I may need to kill a lot of Briarhaven knights..."
The man's eyes studied Liviccic's face. "I'll make sure everyone understands, young lord."
"I do love that they call you 'young' lord. They see you as a boy as well." Sophia teased again, trying to lighten his mood.
The two made it to the Blackcrown manor, many surprised to see him along the way. Sophia's normally sarcastic tone was nowhere to be seen when she took sight of the place. She was taking Liviccic's actions as him being a bit too arrogant now that he was more than twice the level as the last time he was here. When she saw the building though, and the way the people spoke to him, she really started seeing it. He was trying to be the man he was supposed to be. Instead of teasing him, she ought to be supporting him. He'd never become a great lord with her belittling all the while...
"Not another step!" Someone yelled.
The pair turned to see a dozen knights breathing heavily, having struggled to get here as soon as they could. Liviccic took this opportunity to speak while they caught their breath.
"Boris? And you've brought some friends? I'm so glad you came. For you to surrender so quickly... Did you regret your actions that much?" Liviccic said tauntingly.
Boris was a tall man, 6'4" and only 20 of age. He wore heavy armor yet moved as if it weighed nothing. Two greatswords at his back. To most people, he was quite intimidating.
"Heh, how prideful. I nearly beat you and your bags of bones all by myself last time, and now? I'm level 29 and have the numbers advantage."
Liviccic ignored the part he didn't care about. "Level 29? Were you not level 23 last time?" He sounded genuinely impressed.
"That's right. I told you before, I'm going to be the strongest knight." He said, holding his own head high.
"Tell me then, why were you able to gain 6 levels in that short time, but not before?"
"Obviously lord Blackcrown died and we kicked you out. Meaning we were able to organize ourselves enough to give more time for leveling up. You see? We don't need you."
"Yet no one else seems to have gained more than two levels... Could it really be that I was holding you back?"
"Exactly! I'm gaining power so fast that I may be a vassal hero one day. No. I definitely will."
"...Then I am sorry for hurting your growth. If you surrender now, I promise to allow you to leave here fully armed and armored when it's all done. Melromarc needs talent right now. The shield hero is not staying here." Liviccic said, having been informed by Naofumi the day it happened.
"...You still stand there thinking you'll win? ...What level are you?" Boris felt something was off.
"Father often said level was deceiving... But I am level 40, as is Sophia, and this Skull Captain." Liviccic answered plainly
"H...hahaha. That's such a terrible bluff." One of the others claimed, fumbling for excuses.
Many of the others agreed, but Boris didn't think so. He studied Liviccic and didn't really see the kid that hid behind others as he did before. He looked at Sophia and had no idea what she was, but felt an overwhelming power from her. Even the skeleton seemed strong, but he felt he could beat it, if barely.
"...How did you get this strong?" Boris asked that and the others stopped laughing, realizing that at least Boris was thinking it was true.
"I partied with Sophia here for one. I also partied with Naofumi Iwatani, the shield hero, during the wave that happened about a week ago." Liviccic answer with half-truths.
"...How'd the wave go?" Boris asked, having heard rumors.
"Zero casualties. The heroes nearly died. So best result, but in a massive need of improvement."
"And you expect me to pat you on the back and just accept that? And let me guess, your skeletons saved everyone?" Boris asked aggressively.
"No. I helped, but the Iwatani family definitely put in more work. I'd say the shield hero, Princess Melty or maybe Monti Iwatani could have been considered the most useful."
Boris ignored everything else, but one name, "Princess Melty? She was at the wave?"
"What? Heavens no! She helped organize all of us though. It helped immensely."
"...So fighting in the waves really grants that much EXP?"
"Yes. So if you surrender now, I can promise you that you can leave, alive and well, armed and armored. You can combat the waves and gain all kinds of EXP... I just need to strip you of your rank and let it be known publicly that you betrayed your lord."
The others lashed out at Liviccic, but Boris began considering something. He remained quiet. The others got a slash across their faces courteous of Sophia and her [Steel Web].
"You're so lucky the b-that your lord is being so much more courteous to you than you were to him..., but I won't. The next foul words will cost you a tongue." Sophia warned.
"..." Boris stared at Liviccic.
"..." Liviccic smiled at Boris.
"Can't do that. I said I'd be the 'strongest knight', which means I have to retain my knighthood." Boris place a hand on his back to-
Liviccic frowned, "Negotiations? I feel there must be a failure on my part in this conversation. You are a criminal, just because I'm giving you a choice in how you proceed doesn't mean you can dictate terms to me. The choices are disgrace or death. Choose."
Boris placed a hand on each of his swords and paused. The others saw this and grabbed their own weapons too. He threw them from their sheaths into the air, then he caught them before they could hit the ground.
"Then this is how it's going to be." Boris finally answered.
"So be it." Liviccic finished speaking.
Two of the dozen knights started off firing arrows from longbows. They were quickly disappointed that Sophia moved in front of Liviccic using [Collapsing Thread] to block them both with her armored legs. The other 10 charged, Boris leading them. Because of this, no one noticed that no more arrows were shot from the two in the back, as the Soul Eater left Liviccic's shadow and came out of the ground at them, trying to maul them. They quickly abandoned their bows for their melee weapons, one also cast magic at it.
Liviccic used [Seeking Skulls] to summon two floating skulls next to himself. He then took several steps forward and brought down his staff on Boris, who caught it between his swords. The force brought Boris to his knee, much to his surprise. The skulls shot forth, striking the charging knights. The explosion from them caught the attention of everyone nearby. They came to watch.
"This doesn't make sense. You could be level 60 and your strength shouldn't be this high! What the hell!?" Boris tried to lift Liviccic's staff, but could not.
Liviccic changed the direction of his force and sent him flying off to the side. He then shot [Vile] at one of the other enemies that didn't recover quickly enough from the explosion. The moment it made contact with her, she screamed. The attack burrowed into her, damaging her greatly, if the attack wasn't lethal, she'd at least never fight again. The others were met with the Skull Captain swinging wildly at them.
Sophia moved to and waited in the back. She wanted to help, but a host of onlookers were gathering. She wanted Liviccic to do this without her, hoping it'd help his image in the long term.
Liviccic had time to fire off one more [Vile], killing another knight before blocking Boris again. Boris was swinging his two greatswords with such incredible speed, it was much faster than what most knights could do with shortswords. Liviccic blocked most of them, taking a few, waiting for an opening.
"To answer your earlier question: Yes, I don't have the strength to beat you... normally. However, I'm wearing these bones."
Boris was confused a moment, before figuring it out and being more pissed.
"Dammit. I want this to be one on one!" Boris complained.
"So you figured it out? Yes, these are also animated. Any action my limbs do now have 8 skeletons worth of strength added to it. So it's kind of a nine on one... When you couldn't beat me one on one back then, your buddies stepped in, but now you're losing because of it and you demand a one on one bout? What kind of man can't have consistent beliefs?"
"Shut up! You used skeletons back then too!" Boris defended while he continued wearing himself down.
"I guess it depends on how you look at it. I'm using my magic to make them move, so I see it as my power."
"Those skeletons are not you though!" Boris kept arguing.
"And your swords are not you either, but you wield them with your strength. Same with your armor. I just have better tools than you." Liviccic finished saying as he found an opening and hit Boris hard in the upper chest, shattering two of his ribs and sending him away again.
He looked to the Skull knight which was about to be overrun, but then the Soul Eater made his presence known by biting one of their heads off from behind. When their attention was divided between the Soul Eater and Skull Captain, Liviccic struck one of the remaining knights in the shoulder with such force that it left him unable to use his right arm.
"Stop turning away!" Boris yelled as he threw one of his swords at Liviccic, landing a decent hit on him.
He then followed it up by attempting to sweep his feet with his remaining sword, which Liviccic hopped back to avoid. The two engaged again, Liviccic taking a few hits.
"You're definitely different from back then, but it doesn't matter. No matter how much you want to be lord, I-"
"Do you think I wanted to be lord back then!? I was a son who had literally just been told that my father was dead! Then told I have no home anymore. I didn't want lordship, I wanted time to fucking grieve!" Liviccic put more strength into his blows and pushed Boris back further.
"Not everyone is like you, Boris. Not everyone has a goal and pursues it like that, not everyone wants to be something great and feels that anything less isn't worth having."
"You just said you were here to be the lord, you-"
"Because the shield hero is leaving, dumbass. I was only coming back originally to take back my home, to leave on my own terms. I refuted people when they called me 'lord Blackcrown'. Now though? I need to get everyone together and ready, a big battle is coming. I don't know where, I don't know who, but there are too many things happening, on too large a scale for it to end peacefully."
Boris took a step back, trying to catch his breath. Without the clanging of metal, he now heard the death gasps of his last remaining friends as the Skull Captain and Soul Eater finished them. He was now alone, down one sword, and had to fight three enemies. He was going to die, but he never faltered.
"Do you regret your decision now?" Sophia asked from afar.
"Not in the slightest. I will not compromise on being the strongest knight, so surrendering was never an option... and I don't regret what I did back then either. While not intended, it certainly made you a man." Boris stood his ground.
"So you're okay with this? ... I hate that this is how it ends..., but-"
Liviccic gathered the shadows from all around him to cast [Rancor]. Boris saw the swelling of power around Liviccic and couldn't help but smile. This was the power he had been holding back. So unfair.
Suddenly there was no sound, as Liviccic unleashed a stream of black force that consumed Boris. Sound slowly returned with a thunderous finish. The force destroyed Boris' body so completely that it was as if all of his body was turned to blood. Bone, organs and everything else. His body was forced anywhere with great force. A moment later, his armor warped and fell.
Having seen Liviccic's power themselves, those that felt he was unfit either changed their minds or knew to keep quiet. For now, Liviccic was home, his enemies defeated.
...
Melromarc Embassy in Faubrey
...
The queen was anxiously waiting for a report when the shadow reached her.
"You're late." The queen complained.
"My apologies. It appears more happened after I left. Another shadow has been dispatched to bring that news as well."
"Good enough. My daughter, the shield hero, the wave results. I need that information, now." The queen demanded impatiently.
"They are all very closely related. You see, in an act of amazing luck, we were able to set Princess Melty up to meet with the shield hero before he even returned to the capital."
"That is indeed great news. Did he take to her well?"
"Incredibly so. Princess Melty and his Filolial have declared each other best friends, and the shield hero's entire party seemed to enjoy her." The Shadow eagerly reported.
"I envy her speaking to a filolial before me..." The queen couldn't help but think.
"While neither of them knew who the other was, Melty knew him as the savior of the heavenly fowl and used some one-sided information to conclude the king had a grudge with the savior. She was able to grant him a large sum of 50 gold pieces, which the hero needed for his preparations. She even learned he was a hero first. Everything was going great."
"...What happened?"
"The spear hero attacked the shield hero and tried to steal his filolial away, declaring her a slave that he would free. The shield hero's party beat him pretty bad, before Princess Malty showed up to declare the duel legal. Princess Melty stepped in to stop it."
"So he abandoned her?"
"For a time. He had already grown attached and didn't want to leave her be."
"...Are you sure I can't convince him to marry Melty?"
"I watched the shield hero and his former slave on a very lovely little date while they were in the capital... Give up."
"I will not... Continue."
"Melty came to conflict with the king and ordered him and everyone else to leave the shield hero be, it-"
"She actually ordered her father?... She's growing up..."
"If that pleases you then the next bit will as well. Melty met the shield hero the morning of the wave. The shield hero invited her to help organize the command structure and advise him on strategy for the wave."
"Hmm, that was a test."
"Melty thought so too. There are other things I need to let you know about, but first, I am happy to report that even though the wave lasted over three hours, no one died. Not one."
The queen dropped her fan and stood there, still.
"Was it...?"
"Yes. Princess Melty and the shield hero were the reason."
The queen lost composure and a few tears of joy escaped. This was great news. Truly wonderful news. From here, that front may finally stabilize.
"We learned of a few of the shield hero's abilities from Princess Melty. The two most relevant being his ability to summon his party members to his side and he can communicate over seemingly any distance with them. So, he will not be isolated that easily."
"Great safeguards, we must remember those. This is truly good news... If there's nothing else..."
"There is, but it is yet more good news. We have located the young Blackcrown."
"How? He's been off the map for a while."
"During the brief time we weren't directly on the shield hero's trail, they met and joined his party. He participated in the wave and was heard saying he was returning to Briarhaven. He likely arrived there today or may tomorrow."
"Then that settles any debate I have. If he is strong enough to fight in the waves and has close ties to the shield hero, then he is now a greater lord and lord of Briarhaven. Many will complain about his age, but the benefits outweigh anything else... I'm going to need to let him know a few things, I need a letter delivered via a shadow. Briarhaven's might is greatly needed against Bal-"
The queen went to write, but another shadow entered, looking near death.
"We are now in a major crisis, your majesty." The shadow was trying to catch their breath.
"Were you attacked? Did Balmus already strike?" The queen asked.
"N-No. I increased my speed with lightning affinity magic. I used 20 mana potions-That doesn't matter. The king has ruined everything!"
"Calm down and speak clearly... Now, what has he done?"
"He usurped Melty and had her confined to her room, then he brought the shield hero to the castle to interrogate him... It was going bad, but the shield hero offered to do everything he has been doing up until now for free. The shield hero's only stipulation was to let his party use the dragon hourglass."
"Why would he need permission?"
"The king banned the shield's party from using the hourglass."
"That is indeed terrible, but my husband's hard-ball approach did just net us the shield hero and for free. He may be frustrated for now, but-"
"No, my queen. After hearing the offer, your husband denied him, threatened his party, and the shield hero declared his intent to leave Melromarc. He left eight days ago. The church is on the move and plans to intercept him somehow."
The queen was so stunned, so bewildered, that she just stood there a moment.
"I will rip his fucking balls oooffff!"
A wave of ice shot randomly around the room. The two shadows dodged the unintended attack.
.
[Author's Notes]
Last chapter's title seemed to scare a fair bit of you. Sorry.
Very little of the Iwatani family this chapter, mostly other major changes in Melromarc's dynamic.
The king did not take Naofumi's warning seriously and now he is down in the dungeon.
The knights would normally be wary of a leader as young as Melty, but it was between her and trash. So now they are all for her.
Liviccic has Briarhaven and honestly a lot of resources. Just not the time to coordinate.
I have a feeling that I spent too much of this chapter on Liviccic and Sophia. I have a feeling they are not as well liked as the kids and so I tried to place Melty being a boss and an embassy scene around them for those that may not like them as much.
The queen got a long string of great news, but trash will be trash and ruin her smile.
I assume a few of you already guessed who they are going to find and release from the dungeons.
Everything is a clusterfuck.
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