ăAnd did you know about Sweet Pleasureâs abilities, Your Majesty?ă
ăPlease donât address me as âYour Majestyâ, Lawrence. I have not taken the throne yet.ă
ăPonsonia is already uniting around you.ă
In Kudyastoriaâs private room were a few of her close aides and Lawrence. She insisted on being called Princess until she actually ascended to the throne, which would take place once Prince Austrin was defeated.
The Quinbland Empire offered to form an alliance just now, and she agreed. Normally, a meeting attended by cabinet ministers would take place, but every second counted. The enemy was already within the kingdom.
TOP ARTICLES1/5Mercenaries in Apocalypse Volume 1Chapter 29
Ponsonia desperately wanted Quinblandâs troops. To test the Empireâs level of commitment, Kudyastoria suggested they inform other nations of their alliance to which Quinblandâs Prime Minister replied âThatâs a great idea. Iâll ask our Emperor to do that as well.â
At first, the Princess thought the Empire was lying about the alliance and would attack them instead. But it seemed that wasnât the case. Suspicions were cleared.
It would probably take ten days for Quinblandâs and Margrave Grugschiltâs forces to reach the royal capital. The combined forces of Austrin and Einbeast might make their move before that.
Kudyastoria would need to decide soon whether to go with Sweet Pleasureâs plan to destroy Pond, or not.
ăThe royal capitalâs Adventurerâs Guild have provided us with information about Sweet Pleasure.ă
Kudyastoria flicked a bunch of papers across the table. Lawrence picked them up and scanned their contents.
The Adventurers Guild lent adventurers to nations. Normally, a supranational organization participating in wars would only cause needless chaos. But if the guild refused to loan adventurers, the country would put pressure on them. So rules were put into place with regards to lending adventurers.
Rank S adventurers could not be deployed. Only adventurers ranked E to A may be hired and only fifty at a time. The Adventurers Guild, an organization with powers that transcended borders, urged and expected countries to maintain balance.
ăI didnât expect their traps to have such tremendous power.ăLawrence said as he finished reading the documents.
ăIndeed. Do you think Sweet Pleasureâs plan is effective?ă
ăIf they could take down a Field Wyvern, Iâm sure theyâre powerful. ButâŠăLawrence frowned. ăWouldnât the enemy know about Sweet Pleasure? Traps are only effective when hidden. If they knew about the traps, they would most likely just pass by Pond.ă
ăExactly.ă
Kudyastoria passed a second batch of papers that contained information on Rising Falls and Polar Tiger, rank A adventurer parties from Einbeast. But unlike Sweet Pleasure, intel on them was far lesser.
The Adventurers Guild could obtain information about its own adventurers, but whether they shared them to guilds in other regions or not was a different matter. The guild, after all, was not a monolith.
What they had at hand at the moment was information gathered by the royal capitalâs Adventurers Guild.
ăSo Einbeastâs Adventurers Guild might also have information on Sweet Pleasure, although limited.ăLawrence said.
ăThereâs also a possibility that a rank A enemy knows Senkun personally.ă
ăThereâs not a lot of intel here. Polar Tiger is a party of demi-humans close to the nation. As for this Rising Falls, besides their names and ranks, we only know that theyâre a party of few people with terrible destructive power. Did Sweet Pleasure mention anything?ă
ăSir Sunken seems to know them. He must have an acquaintance there. He saidâŠăKudyastoria eyed her secretary who was browsing his notes.
ăâŠthat they rely on their weaponâs power, Master Lawrence.ăthe official said.
ăThe power of their weapons, huhâŠă
ăLawrence, can they, letâs say, best you with only their weapons? Is that possible?ă
ăIâm but a human being. A mere knife can kill me.ă
Lawrence was alluding to the time he was almost killed by a boy. Kudyastoria was a witness to the fight as well.
ăThatâs not what I meant. Iâm asking if there are legendary weapons that can wipe out a whole army.ă
ăYes.ă
ăReally?ă
ăReally. Magic items⊠No, weapons with incredible power do exist. If Rising Falls has one of thoseâŠăLawrenceâs face turned sullen.ăEven if they were complete amateurs, theyâll have the power of a hundred armies. Things would be easier if we managed to do something about their weapon.ă
ăWe wouldnât have to blow up a whole town, too.ă
ăSweet Pleasureâs traps are extremely effective in confined spaces. They would be less effective in hand-to-hand combat, and thereâs also the risk of friendly fire. I can understand Sir Sunkenâs position. He can maximize the power of his traps by blowing up Pond.ă
ăWith Quinblandâs forces and Margrave Grugschiltâs troopsâŠăThe Princess trailed off, and Lawrence continued.
ăWe can win even out in the open. We know the local geography.ă
ăAm I being too optimistic?ăKudyastoria asked, showing hesitation to destroy Pond.
Lawrence smiled.ăNot at all. The Margrave, me, and everyone here followed you because of your views.ă
Her close aides nodded, and Kudyastoria looked relieved.
ăSo our problem is the Rising Falls⊠If only there was some way we could steal their weapon.ăthe Princess muttered.
The smell of alcohol filled the room in one of Leather Elkaâs mansions.
ăAhahahaha! My sides! Did you see their faces?! Polar Tiger, Polar Cat, I donât care. Weâve accomplished more than them. They donât even know about Sweet Pleasure? A bunch of muscle-heads! What a riot!ă
Igloo of the Rising Falls party gulped down the wine from his mug. Several empty bottles were already scattered about. Only the members of the party were in the elegant guest room.
ăYouâre drinking too much, Big Brother. It stinks of alcohol here. Also you might get us in troubleâŠă
ăOh, you worry too much. Ryver said thereâs no one else here. Right?ă
Igloo shot a glance at the man standing in the corner of the room. Slit-eyed, he had long, red hair tied to the back. He was wearing thick breeches and a shirt. It was hard to tell what he was thinking behind his blank expression.
ăYeah. Thereâs no one else around a hundred meters from here.ă
ăSee? You know Ryverâs Detection has never been wrong. Heâll use his Detection and you, Caddie, will fire your weapon away. Just like that, the enemyâs dead. Itâs too easy, I canât stop myself from laughing.ă
ăIgloo. I will⊠fight⊠Lawrence. Leave him⊠alone.ă
ăI know. We wonât snatch your opponent.ă
A different manâover two meters tall with a huge, red face like a watermelonâjoined in the conversation. His name was Batros. He donned a bulky, full-body, metal plate mail and carried a shield as big as his body. Though he didnât use them outside of battle. They were lying around in a corner.
ăOkay. Good.ăthe man answered.
It seemed Batros didnât care about anything else but fighting Lawrence. Likewise, Igloo only cared about one thing.
ăIf we won against Ponsonia, I want to sleep with those pretty ladies from, uhh, what was it? Four Stars of the East? Wait, can I do it now? Weâre guaranteed to win anyway and weâll take the enemy as prisoners. All right! A fivesome!ă
ăYou horny idiot⊠The Four Stars of the East went out of the kingdomâŠă
ăThereâs a princess too, right?! Oh, damn! Thereâs not a lot of men who get to have sex with a princess, and Iâll be one of them! Ah, I want to pound her hard from behind as I pin her down and her face twists in disgrace! Shit, Iâm getting fired up!ă
Igloo didnât seem to hear his sisterâs muttering, as he hugged the sofa cushion and buried his face in it.
Word of the Four Starsâ return hadnât reached here yet. It was only natural that Caddie Fullblood didnât know.
Ryver opened his eyes slightly, and gazed at Igloo. The emotion in his eyes was anything but friendly.
Later that night, Ryver was in his room, taking up his pen. He wrote down Iglooâs actions and behavior. The recipient was His Holiness, the Pope.
Ryver used his Detection to survey the surroundings. He could feel the other three in their roomsâIgloo, Caddie, and Batros.
No one occupied the upper and lower floors. He had asked Austrin to clear people out so he wouldnât make an error in his Detection.
Ryver opened the window and held the letter to the night sky. He then raised his ring fitted with a purple crystal.
ăTo His Holiness, from his loyal servant.ă
The magic item activated. The letter turned into a small bird and flew into the night sky. It was different from the magic item that the Adventurerâs Guild and governments used. Lingaâs Quill Pen required a special catalyst to use, which if found in oneâs possession was like admitting you were getting in touch with someone behind closed doors.
Thatâs where the ring came in. Much rarer than the quill pen, barely anyone knew about the magic item.
Ryver let out a sigh. Just as he thought his job for the day was done, he felt something.
ăWhoâs there?!ăHe turned around.
Moonlight shining in from the window and the magic lamp on the table were the only source of light in the room.
ăI must be imagining things.ă
Ryverâs Detection didnât catch anything. Maybe he was being too cautious, which was not a bad thing. He switched gears and closed the window. After putting away the pen and inkwell, he lay down on his bed. Silence fell.
ăâŠâŠâŠă
The darkness moved unnoticed by anyone.
So thereâs a magic item like that, huh. Caught me by surprise.
In the darkness of the night, Hikaru made his move.