To be... or not to be....... a fugitive
Sitting around the war table were, the crown prince, the royal guards, and the three of the 12 knights of the church of light were assembled; The Judge Knight, Lesus Judge, The Storm Knight, Theo Storm and The Sun Knight Roland Sun.
Klaus came to the table with Intel on the enemy, but the first to speak was the crown prince. "My apologies on behalf of the king, who couldn't be here today due to official matters. He wishes to convey his feelings to the Brave ones assembled here to rescue the princess."
All around the table I heard mutterings. "Official matters? Hah, I bet he's Pigging out in the throne room because he's too fat to move."
"His feelings? We all know he couldn't care less about the princess, and only slightly cares about the prince, because without him that fat pig would actually have to do work."
"I bet the prince added that last bit in himself, without him our kingdom would've burnt to the ground a hundred times over!"
Almost everyone was quietly whispering some slandering message about the king, except for the holy knights and one royal knight who was gripping the edge of the table so hard his knuckles were turning white. I think his name was Elijah, He was shaking, You could practically feel the rage emanating from him. What a loyal knight to get angry on behalf of the king. Then I caught something he murmured under his breath; "Damn that Fat pig King, it's his own daughter that's been kidnapped and he can't even get off the throne. Filthy piece of human waste, I'll save the princess even if I have to sell my soul thrice over!".
Sensing revolt Immanent I started panicking *Can we please slander the king later? If this quest fails it's MY head that's going to have a huge bounty on it!*
With timely intervention Klaus came forward to share what he discovered. "Duke Stenn and his forces have revolted, since the King has seized his lands and demanded him to turn over all his assets, because *Duke Stenn did not kiss my daughter's hand on her birthday*, Duke Stenn is now holding the Princess and milady hostage at the Sun tower, and will execute Rinslet in 2 hours, and the princess half an hour after. He is demanding the crown be abdicated to either him or the prince in exchange for their safe return."
This duke Stenn seems like a pretty good guy actually, despite kidnapping two girls and holding them hostage while threatening their lives. As if reading my mind more mutterings were heard.
"I really got no motivation, Duke Stenn saved my life when he was still a knight."
"That fat bastard king really went too far, Stenn wasn't even in the kingdom during the princess' birthday he was repelling an uprising at the southern border."
"Stenn is lady Laurenfrost's uncle there's no way he'd kill her, or the princess for that matter"
........................I get the feeling that this quest is getting more difficult by the second, with all these unmotivated knights. Relief washed across the faces of The Prince and Elijah. That is until Klaus revealed the piece of intel that would send us all flying into panic.
"That's what the situation has been made to appear however, this is all a ruse in order assassinate the prince and effectively take over the kingdom." Bringing up the proof Klaus opened the large sack he had brought with him into the room, It contained the corpse.
"N-No way, that's Duke Stenn!"
"It can't be! Who did this to him!"
Attempting to restore order, Klaus explained. "Duke Stenn and his men were completely annihilated in a border skirmish with the kingdom of Kissinger. He and his soldiers were all replaced with fakes, regular soldiers of Kissinger disguised using magic from the church of chaos. And had an assassin waiting in place next to the king, waiting for a chance to assassinate both the king and the prince."
"While leaving the princess and the next in line for the throne(Rinslet) to be killed by the fake duke Stenn. With nothing to stand against him, the fake is the next in line for the throne and the kingdom of Forgotten sound would be in the hands of Kissinger Royalty." the prince realized.
"Correct, It's also important to know that in the kidnapping of the princess, the enemy fielded Several battle mages, to attack Reverend. It would be safe to assume that those same mages will be included in their defences."
*Oh so Rembrandt was ganged up on by a group of mages, that makes more sense*
"How on earth did you discover all that Klaus?" The information I was handed just couldn't have been uncovered by one man.
Pulling up a second bag, Klaus revealed another man. This one dressed in the clothes of a royal poison tester, and was still alive, but bound and gagged. "This Kissinger assassin was more than happy to spill all the secrets in the Butler academy punishment room."
All of a sudden I pitied the man. "Klaus what ARE you?"
"I am just one Hell of a butler."
With that concluded we're still back where we started, the Princess and Rinslet are still in danger.
Desperate for some way of completing this quest I look through my skill list for anything useful.
Cooking - Intermediate level 1
Polishing - Intermediate level 2- additional options availible
Elementary heal- Level 6 -Heals a target by 20 life plus your INT x 1.5 mp cost: 12
Intermediate heal- level 1- Heals a target by 220 plus your int x 4 mp cost: 40
Handicraft- Intermediate level 3
Mirage step- level 1- Be completely invisible players npcs monsters and animals. mp cost 20/second.
*Mirage step? when did I ever learn that?* Recalling when I was mistaken for the cloud knight I suddenly understood why that connection was made. *THIS is the reason why I was called the cloud knight???............. hey this could be useful*
Standing up to gain the attention of the group, I explain my plan "I have an idea. I can sneak behind the enemy lines and enter the tower, silently killing any guard or mage I come across."
With that rose a wave of protests.
"The Apprentice is getting ahead of himself."
"He may be a butler but he's still just an apprentice."
"He's only level 4 what can he do?"
Instead of explaining to them I simply Activated Mirage step.
"What happened? He just vanished."
"Glory be the sun god, where did he go?"
"........ sorry Judge................ 6 all nighters in a row are getting to me"
Both klaus and I said at the same time. "I Haven't moved!" "He hasn't moved."
Before I could even say anything Klaus answered "That skill won't work on highly attentive people such as professional butlers."
Suddenly the room went quiet, and I understood what everyone was thinking. "You mean monsters right? You're clearly not human."
Moving on with my plan " When I reach the room where the hostages are held, I'll barricade the room and throw a torch out a window. That'll be the signal for all the troops to attack."
Although some seemed to have slight issues with the plan, no one voiced any objections. At that point Klaus let me go prepare for the mission. "Sebastian you are excused."
*Is it too late to protest my name?* With that I left to go prepare Mysterious tea
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you have drank Mysterious tea
Effects: +50 life, +350 mana, +5 Str +30Dex +40 Int +60 Wis
Your thoughts become sharper, your comprehension speed and ability to learn skills are doubled.
With a higher cooking Level more stats were added when compared to a noble girl just adding in leaves to some high quality tea.
I Entered the tower easily. Even if there's an army against you, if they can't notice you they're powerless to stop you. The tower had a rather simple design, It had 4 floors total, and was completely cylindrical in shape with a spiral staircase going along the wall. Constructed almost entirely of stone, this building was meant to be a storehouse for the upper nobility, needless to say it was full of food supplies.
On the inside of the tower a few guards reached for their weapons when I walked through, but lowered then when they saw no one walk in. I planned to let them turn their attention away from the door then kill them off one by one, but one person pointed out. "Hey what's with that bird?"
*Bird what bird?* Turning around I saw............Charles. Not that I wasn't happy to see him, that just wasn't a good time. *He must've been hiding in the bushes and followed me inside.... damn*
"It's..... so cute........" It was a female archer standing beside the table at the back of the room. Because of that one line I very much wanted to spare her life. But I had a mission to do.
While everyone was still distracted by Charles I quickly barred the entrance, and drew my dagger. There were seven enemies on this floor, since they weren't prepared for a battle none of them wore heavy armor, and either wore light leather armor or simple cotton clothes. I had 22 seconds of mirage step and my time was dwindling down, quickly I slashed the throat of the man closest to me.
-Critical hit-
Eyes wide with shock, he would never know what killed him. Staggering slightly, he collapsed on the stone floor in a pool of his own blood.
Level Up!
Level Up!
Level Up!
Level Up!
Before they could realize what was wrong, I ran up to the next closest soldier and stabbed him in the ear. Starting to realize something was attacking them, one man shouted " ITS THE BIRD THE BIRD"S USING SOME WEIRD MAGI-"
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I didn't let him finish that sentence. Feeling intense rage that Charles would be put in danger I threw my dagger at the soldier.
-Critical hit-
He quickly found my knife lodged in his throat, filling his lungs with crimson liquid. I gained another 3 levels from the kills.
You have learned the Throwing Skill
Accuracy and damage when throwing Daggers, Rocks, vegetables and other light objects is increased by 10%.
At that moment a system message popped up
-Mana consumption of mirage step has doubled-
Meaning that my 10 remaining seconds had been shortened to five. With 3 of their companions dead the remaining three soldiers(plus one archer) charged at Charles.
I drew my sword and desperately ran towards him, but I couldn't make it. The nearest one raised his sword overhead, about to commence the dreaded strike that would end Charles life.
To my surprise(and immense relief) he picked up a sword from one of the fallen soldiers and with amazing speed, slashed the enemy across the chest. Following up I finished him off with a slash across the back, as his HP dropped to zero, he too collapsed in a bloody heap.
Then I noticed the archer nock an arrow, immediately I pushed Charles out of the way, and the arrow struck my shoulder. It didn't draw blood, thanks to my surprisingly defensive suit, but at the very least it left an apple sized bruise.
At that moment my mana ran out and I became once again noticeable. It was a pretty bad situation, there were two enemy swordsmen and one archer. Before the archer could do anything I dived towards the ground and scooped up a fist sized rock and threw it at as hard as I could. The system assist told me when I needed to let go.
Luckily the archer was too preoccupied with nocking her arrow to notice the projectile fly towards her head. The rock struck her left temple and she fell unconscious.
It seemed like it would be a one on one duel for each of us, but the reality of the situation was, these soldiers are between level 25 and 40. While on our side me and Charles are a level 11 Butler and a Rappy.
Growing desperate I tried intimidating my opponent, with my bloodstained hair and clothes, I glare at him, and let out a growl. He cringed, for just a moment, but that was all I needed.
Taking advantage of that one instant, I kick him in the un-armored groin(yes I know it was cheap but I was desperate), followed up with a slash across his face, and ended him with a thrust through the neck.
Looking over to see how Charles was doing, he and his opponent, were circling each other, watching for any opening the opposition could make. It would have been comical, if you didn't notice the blood on his sword and feathers.
I tried to attack him from behind, but this one was different from the rest, his leather armor appeared to be of higher quality, and his swordsmanship was better than the sloppy show of the one I just offed. With that, he deflected my blow and turned sideways so that his back was exposed to neither of us. Even so he couldn't win against two of us, I cut him in the side; slicing through the hard leather armor, and drawing blood. Seeing the opportunity, Charles ended the fight with a stab through the chest.
Level up!
Level up!
Panting, I heard the rush of footsteps upstairs. The sound of our skirmish attracted the attention of those upstairs. Hurriedly I grabbed Charles and hid behind a stack of flour. In total there were 12 or 13 more soldiers that ran down the stairs.
In response I slashed open a large sack of flour and threw it against the roof, flour spread everywhere, with a lot of it suspended in the air. While the soldiers were still confused I tore a torch off the wall and threw it into the dust cloud, then hit the dirt(stone whatever. you get the idea) with Charles.
The resulting explosion was something spectacular.
The walls shuddered, and dust fell from the roof afterwards, but thank the god of Light that the tower didn't collapse.
The intense heat instantly shaved off 10% of our hp, while the soldiers who were upright in the center of the blast got off much worse. At least two died, and the one who was wearing plate mail was definitely roasted alive. Most of them were unconscious, but three of them were simply stunned, but only one managed to keep on his feet.
*That one has to be the commander* I picked up a claymore off the ground and handed it to Charles, and the two of us executed the stunned warriors. * why didn't I try this earlier?* We only killed the ones still conscious and hid behind another stack of flour waiting for more enemy soldiers to show up, but oddly enough, none came. Giving in to my desire for exp and loot, me and Charles mercilessly ended the rest of the downed soldiers, earning 8 more levels , 18 silvers and some armor. I also salvaged two daggers and a broadsword.
Running up stairs we encountered no soldiers and nothing of note, on the second and third floors.
At the door to the fourth floor I drank some more mysterious tea to somewhat boost my mp and calm myself down, and then had Charles wait outside. Before entering I activated Mirage step, It leveled up during the fighting.
Mirage step Level-2 Mp cost 18mp/second, Mana usage increase due to heightened emotions is decreased slightly. Chance of being noticed by target, after an attack :78%When attacking an enemy while Undiscovered Critical hit rate +1%
During the fighting so far I realized one thing. There were no battle mages.
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Entering the room there was a slack jawed man in light plate mail harassing The princess and Rinslet. "Hehehehehe ...... Forgotten sound kingdom sure has some high quality girls, You two are going to be killed anyways, So before that I'll turn you two into adults eh-heh-heh-heh" The next instant I had my blade at his throat, and mirage step disengaged. "Life's short, yours is about to get shorter".
* cool entrance-check, sword at the bad guy's throat-check, awesome line- check. What's that? It's not an cool entrance, I only walked up to him while being unnoticeable? ...... shut up(oh please just let me have my two minutes of randomness, at the rate this is going, without Charles, I can't even tell if this is my fan fic anymore!)*
I swung my blade at his neck, trying to decapitate him, but I didn't put enough force behind it, so the blade got lodged in his spine.
"Sebastian!" *oh please not this again* " Watch out there's another one!"
*Another one?* Taking the cue, I tore my sword out of the corpse's neck, and raise both swords, just in time to parry an incredibly heavy hit.
The attacker....................... Was a butler. This was most definitely the guy that beat Rembrandt. Rembrandt was level 176, this new butler was 214 *How the hell is this a rank D quest?*
"That's Stefan the Butler of Duke Stenn!" -Rinslet
Trying to end this I called out "Stefan don't you know that your master has been replaced with a fake?"
The tall elegant man holding me down, using only a light Rapier(the gentleman's weapon) responded with a tortured voice. "Of course I know, my loyalties lie with the current head of House Stenn, Duke Stenn's son, who is held captive in Kissinger. My apologies your highness, lady Laurenfrost, however I require all of you to die here."
Stefan's Strikes were fast and precise, but above all they were insanely powerful. For using such a light sword it felt as if i were getting hit with a sledge hammer. Even though I was blocking each and every hit my hp was still dropping 4-5% per hit.
Waiting for the chance to counter, I reversed my grip on the swords. Just waiting for that one attack that would let me fight back. There it is! That horizontal slash. seizing the chance, I dived sideways towards Stefan using the rolling motion to drive my left arm in an upwards slash, to deflect the enemies weapon, while simultaneously slashing downwards with my right.
I first used this attack sequence in a freestyle swordsmanship competition in the real world. Eventually It would become my signature counter attack, only...... I lost that match. Maybe that should've set off some warning signals to me.
Stefan easily sidestepped my downward slash, and kicked my exposed side. All those easy victories on the first floor must have really inflated my ego. How could a level 21 possibly win against a level 214? Stefan's kick defied the laws of physics, I flew and crashed into the wall, my hp down to 20%.
Stefan approached to deliver the final blow, desperately I raised my swords.
The blades shattered in my hands.
Resigning to my fate, I prepare mentally for a quest fail, and me spending the rest of my 4 weeks hiding from royal guards.
Suddenly Charles attacked swinging his claymore, saving my life. I was seriously touched by all the loyalty he's shown so far, and we only met at two days ago.
Stefan disarmed Charles with a single stroke of the sword, and kicked him, flying straight at me. My hp dropped to a dangerous 12%, and my vision started fading. It didn't look like Charles could get up either. It was then that I decided to let out my last words. "pl....please...........spare...................charl-.........."
I blacked out.