While we were walking to the palace's bedchambers, I decided to start a conversation with Granid. I couldn’t believe that we had such luck and, at the same time, a problem, which also didn’t take long to arrive. Some strange people in spotted green robes are holding something in their hands, so firmly and confidently as if these strange-shaped instruments are some kind of weapon, which may well be the case.

They arrived along with Granid, and also with them was a group of commoners, judging by their pale appearance and strange manner of whispering, and of course the most important problem among them was Princess Ilifreeta. I thought she had already died, but, unfortunately, she was still alive. She was carried in the arms of some adventurer whose facial features were vaguely familiar to me. Not immediately, but a few moments later, on reflection, I realized who this man was.

Furgur. You're back.

The war with Duke Fellrick may have already begun, but it is never too late to offer him the head of the princess and thereby join him as a vassal and member of the new royal council. However, I cannot know with certainty whether he will agree to my proposal or decide to get rid of me as well as any contender for the throne, so I will be careful when I bring this up again.

Moreover, Princess Ilifreeta was apparently under the protection of Granid. Furgur seems to have continued to serve her highness faithfully and clearly does not want to follow the tenets of reason. He never understood the main thing, that within the walls of the palace there is no revenge of honor, dignity, or even morality.

As always, he just wants to do the right thing, but he does not understand that the "correctness” of decisions always goes side by side with his rigidity and immorality. He never learned anything.

The golden-haired princess herself looked surprised and still weak and immobilized. It’s unlikely that anyone in her place could imagine that I would suddenly become a king, however, neither did I. It was not easy to exterminate part of the capital’s nobility; I still have problems with this. Their affairs became mine, as did their problems, but now I could say for sure that the capital was under my complete control and not a single mouse would plot an assassination attempt on me or a member of the council within the walls of this city.

To the sound of stomping feet and the looks of surprised and submissive townspeople, I turned the corner. Continuing to follow the guards, I decided to ask the old wizard some things that I was curious to know:

"If I may, I want to ask you a question. I would like to know who all these people are. They don’t look like mercenaries. Foreigners?”

"Truly."

Granid nodded, scratching his gray beard.

"I came to you, Your Majesty, only because of them."

Because of them?

I was a little surprised.

I turned my attention to the strangers for a few moments and, squinting my eyes, asked the old wizard:

"What do you want?"

"I offer help from these mighty warriors, and in return let them pass through the lands of Lakuus further to the east. Now they are in search of their home, their path lies through dangerous lands beyond the border of races, so I offered them to temporarily serve the crown.”

Hearing these words, I smiled.

Army! Just what I need. There are only twenty people, but judging by their clothes, they can hide well in the forests. They could apprehend the cultists or even Duke Fellrick. It is possible that they could be used as assassins to try to eliminate the prince and duke before they even reach the city walls.

I have already thought through options for using them and then answered in the affirmative:

"I’m glad to hear that. There’s no need to think about it, I agree to such a proposal. Now protection won’t hurt us.”

"But I want to ask you too.”

Granid caught my attention.

From these words I became a little nervous because I already understood what he wanted to say.

"How did you become king? Leff personally bestowed you the title and named you heir to the throne, or did you proclaim yourself king and violate one of the pillars of the kingdom, its law?"

"Dear Granid,.."

I said more seriously, keeping a tight smile on my face.

"...a problem arose in giving the crown to the eldest son of the now deceased king."

"And which one?"

"He was unworthy of her."

Hearing my words, the old man laughed and shook his head.

"And so you took the crown for yourself."

At that moment I stopped, and with me all the escort, including the old wizard’s companions. The way he said it caused a lot of concern. I did not like where this conversation was leading, so I decided to address the respected court magician more personally, as a person whom I had long seen in my childhood and who taught many young girls and boys the basics of magic. He was an elder in the royal court, and he certainly should know that everything here is not so simple and unambiguous.

"Granid, listen to me, this was necessary. Monrid is a mad ogre, handing over the crown to him means putting thousands of people on his table, like breakfast, lunch and dinner. He is cruel and treacherous. Under his rule, the kingdom would plunge into dark times. If I allowed this brat would take the throne of our kingdom, then our people would have come to an end. Everything that the kings of Lakuus had achieved, who had been building the country for centuries, would have turned into nothingness.

"Leff had a brother. What was his name?"

Granid thought and after a moment, remembering, said his name.

"Fellrick."

His mention in the conversation was expected, and I answered the old wizard in a calmer manner.

"It's not so easy with him either. He's power-hungry and wants the heads of all the members of the royal family hanging on stakes, all of them without exception, including her."

I pointed my finger at Ilifreeta, which made it seem to me that she even twitched.

"I may have wanted to do this, but Monrid beat me to it and rescued her from the palace before I gave the order to cut off her head.”

"W-what?"

Ilifreeta stuttered when she heard my words.

"You wanted to… k-kill me?"

Tears welled up in the princess’s eyes, she stuttered, and people around began to whisper, hearing all this from our lips. I started to feel uncomfortable, but I was able to pull myself together in time.

A king must not show weakness.

Having regained my confident appearance, I answered so that everyone around me could hear everything I said:

"It doesn't matter now. Fellrick has already invaded the kingdom and is coming here with his entire army. There is only one city in my domain, and that is Ran. But I have no army that could fight the enemies of the kingdom. Monrid has the entire aristocracy behind him and cultists, and behind the duke an army of selected soldiers and mercenaries. Therefore, I am glad... glad that you are here, dear Granid. I hope for your help and... for the help of your companions.

I looked around at the old wizard's friends, but one of them suddenly said something out loud.

"Well... things are bad for you. Soon there will be a siege here.”

"Hey you!"

The guard yelled, looming menacingly over the stranger.

"How dare you open your dirty mouth in front of His Majesty?!”

"Enough."

I said calmly, raising my palm to ward off the guard.

"Let him speak, but first tell me, stranger, what is your name.”

"Will."

"U'il."

I tried to repeat it.

This is a rather strange name, but why am I surprised? He's a stranger - that's probably normal.

I thought while the stranger decided to comment on something.

"We haven’t been home for a very long time. These lands are not our native lands, people don’t live here the way we are used to living. We really want to return home and agreed to help you only because we were promised to pass through your lands. Just to hear It’s sickening to see how terrible your situation is. Will our help be worth anything? How long will this war last? Maybe it’s better for us to join the other side of the conflict so that we can win and get out of here faster. see this damn country? What do you think?

These were impudent words, for which the guards were ready to stab him on the spot, but another stranger, apparently their leader, silenced his raging friend.

"Enough Will, you've said enough. We're here to offer help, we haven't agreed to anything yet."

The leader of the strangers turned to me and, to my surprise, decided to apologize.

This gesture says a lot about who he was, namely a man of honor. It wasn't often that you came across something like this.

"Please forgive my fighter for such harsh words. We have had a very hard time lately. Recently, on the way from Itsqueen, we came across an army of robbers near a village and destroyed it. About hundreds of robbers died.”

"What?!"

I exclaimed in surprise, starting to stutter.

"Did you defeat a hundred robbers? Where did so many of them come from and... h-how?"

"We...maybe we'll keep it a secret."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The stranger said without sharing the secrets of the battle.

Don't want to reveal secrets?

I clicked my tongue, but swallowed this insolence, realizing that not every warrior wants to share their secrets and perhaps the old wizard helped them a lot.

If this is true, then his help really won’t hurt us, which means we should use him while we have the chance.

"Fine."

I nodded, deciding in the end not to get this information out of them and turned towards Granid.

"What do you think? Will you help us?"

"It is my duty to maintain peace in the lands of the kingdom. I will take part in the battle, but only against Antigonus."

So it was true. The Antigone Empire will indeed soon invade our kingdom since even Granid announced this.

I thought and turned away from them and continued on my way to the castle.

"Then let's work out all the details at dinner."

***

The Rana Palace was truly a palace as one could imagine it to be. The structure was surrounded by high walls, and high towers rose in the courtyards, from which sentries watched the city from above. An ideal sniper position, especially considering that there was a city around the palace and castle walls, which was already protected by the outer line of walls. Unlike Itsqueen, there were much more people here, beggars were not so often seen, but they still caught your eye, and the king’s retinue, on the way to the castle, pushed them aside like some kind of rubbish on the road. It was immediately clear who the power was here, the one who was just pushing away ordinary townspeople just because of his social status.

I'll never get used to it.

Narrow streets filled with crowds of townspeople and an unpleasant smell spoke of the era that reigned here. This civilization still has a long way to go before reaching the stars. Meanwhile, we walked through the massive gates straight into the castle, and then headed to the luxurious five-story stone palace.

A person from the space age would certainly not be impressed by such a view, and yet it was surprising to see such... old architecture and understand that it was erected by people, building all this not with the help of machines, but only using hands and some primitive tools. I feel very unenviable for these people, because they live in a backward time in a backward era and still do not understand much.

They really are still far from flying into space, but most likely this is due to the fact that there is some kind of devilry going on here on this planet, like monsters wandering outside the city walls, some demons, mysterious magic and even Gods. I cannot explain in any other way their strange stagnation, which apparently has been going on for several thousand years. They are clearly stuck in this era for a long time, although it would seem that there are absolutely no prerequisites for this.

I would really like to get out of here as soon as possible, especially after what we have experienced here. I talked to Granid about using his magic to create ammunition for us, but for this he would need time, a lot of time, but for now the king and his charges allocated us chambers, and then invited us to dinner.

Of course, not everyone was invited, but only me, Granid and Ilifreeta with Furgur. The mercenary decided to be a nanny for her. I don’t know what this is connected with, but I think it’s due to the fact that he was already familiar with her and perhaps felt some kind of sympathy for her. I didn't mind this considering Furgur follows Incartia, Incartia follows Granid, and Granid follows us. If we attract the attention of the princess with such a locomotive, then from a diplomatic point of view we can remain in the black by having a native ally in the kingdom of Lakuus.

Meanwhile, I was waiting for the start of the meal while high-ranking people gathered at the table, but this time they were in no hurry to occupy themselves with conversations, but silently waited for the moment when the servants brought the first courses. The hall was luxurious, all decorated with ornaments, but it seemed very ordinary to these people, which embarrassed me a little, as a guest of such a rich place.

For a complete feeling of wealth, music is not enough, however, the fact that it is not there is already good. I don't think I would have liked her.

After a while, the maids came into the dining room and set the table, but what we were served could not compare with what we were served at Itsqueen. I was slightly perplexed, especially remembering the taste of juicy meat in my mouth, and now I saw in front of me the usual cabbage and soup cut into small pieces. It was also interesting that the same thing was served to the king, and he, in turn, silently began to eat it, as if he was already accustomed to such a modest meal. However, I didn’t complain about anything and also tried the first courses.

Mmm~... doesn't taste very good. At least it's not crap.

The taste was not disgusting, it was rather unusual, however, that was not important now, but what was important was what the king said after the first snacks.

"Princess Ilifreeta, how are you feeling?"

I turned my head first to the king, and then to the golden-haired princess, who they managed to dress in a white dress with green patterns in the places where it was cut. Her face was directed downwards, it seemed murdered, full of despair and grief. She couldn’t believe that they were going to kill her; moreover, a man who had already led this country for reasons that were still unclear to me wanted to do this to her. She slowly raised her gaze to the king and after a few moments, using telekinesis, she sharply threw the plate at the king, but he managed to dodge by leaning slightly to the side.

The plate flew past and broke on the floor, and the girl, strangely distorting her face, screamed loudly to the whole hall. This loud scream echoed along the walls of the dining room, and her heartbreaking cry penetrated into her very soul, as if needles were piercing her heart. She fell back onto Furgur's chest and lowered her head down, trying to hide her tears and sniffling.

The king, however, had no intention of punishing her for throwing the plate and instead said the following:

"I see you’re not feeling well. I assure you, everything will be fine with you.”

"D-daddy… *sob*…."

The princess shook her head, continuing to whine while Furgur tried to calm her down by stroking her head.

So that's why you're hurting.

I thought.

She didn't care that they were going to kill her; she was now fully aware that her father, the former king, had died. As far as I know, she hasn’t left her chambers since birth, which is why I really can’t understand where she got such love for her father. Did the former king really visit her often, or maybe Ilifreeta instilled in herself this love for her father?

If I were in her place, if I didn’t have a father, then I would find a loved one in a man who often took care of me not as a friend of my mother, but as a real father and would consider him a father, who raised me and took care of me, but with the princess it seems not so . We should find time and talk to her about this or ask Sigrin to do it.

Seeing her tears was... painful. It’s hard to imagine her pain, and yet I decided to drown it out by stuffing more salad into my mouth.

Enough... please... We are people too, we also want to go home, and we also don’t know if everything is fine with our family, friends and loved ones. So please, stop!

I prayed to myself.

Fortunately, the king was able to muffle the girl’s crying by rising from his seat and lightly hugging the princess. This spectacle was quite touching, albeit short-lived. After a while, the king broke away from the princess’s thin body and whispered something to Furgur, after which he rose from his seat and left the hall with the princess in his arms, and we continued dinner as if nothing had happened. Now I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had been in a similar situation before.

Deja vu.

However, it doesn’t matter, something else is important now. The king sat back down in his seat and introduced us to the royal council.

"I must introduce the members of the royal council."

The king pointed his palm to his right at an elderly man in a red and gold military uniform.

"Krezhd Fayun military advisor."

The old man whose name was Krezhd nodded slightly, and then the king introduced the next man, who was sitting opposite the military adviser. This time the second person was dressed much more modestly, wearing only a shirt and trousers, if these clothes could be called that.

"Mierto Luke the treasurer."

The next person was dressed in a thick light robe, which was very strongly associated with worshipers from some temple. However, I was not mistaken in my guesses.

"Bishop of Ayanna."

The fourth man stood out from everyone in that he was dressed only in a black robe and for some reason hid his face under a hood.

"Dougman Privy Councilor."

The last man was a seemingly ordinary aristocrat, but his type of activity surprised me, because associations with a white robe and a red cross were firmly entrenched in my mind.

"And Halesmin is the court physician. At the moment, the chief adviser is absent, there is no time to appoint a new person. Before the coronation, it was me."

"Nice to meet you."

Granid and I said, introducing ourselves as high-born at the table.

Before busying himself with business conversations, the king began to conduct conversations with members of the royal council. The conversation concerned matters of national importance, they talked about preparations for the siege of the city, food problems, the organization of combat detachments, as well as the presence of traitors in the ranks of the royal forces.

"The third patrol did not return on time."

Pronounced by Krezhd.

"I’m not going to send any more of my people to death.”

"But how do we then know what the cultists are planning and where they will begin their siege?"

The treasurer in turn asked.

"No way."

The military advisor answered, coughing slightly to get the king's attention.

"Ahem... we’ll have to strengthen the gates. Most likely the enemy will try to capture them in order to let all the warriors into the city.”

"Do we have enough people?"

The king asked, to which the military adviser shook his head negatively.

"We barely have enough men to maintain a garrison, let alone an internal guard. A riot could break out at any moment, so we cannot assign more men to protect all the entrances."

"And gold."

The treasurer added on his own behalf.

The worshiper rarely participated in the conversation, only occasionally inserting his word, but this time he made a certain prayerful gesture and uttered the following words while continuing to sit at the table:

"May the all-forgiving Sod preserve souls. May he direct his «punishing hand» at the champions of darkness and demon spawn."

Even though the King tried to keep a calm expression on his face, it was clear that he was clearly worried about the current situation. An attempt to somehow calm down was unsuccessful.

Will was right... there's nothing we can do here. This country is doomed to destruction. What can a king do sitting in the royal capital? He doesn't even have an army. However…

I fixed my gaze on the old wizard. Granid was calm and to some extent even firm. He did not miss a moment to express his thoughts:

"I see you are worthy of your title, Draun. However, you should not create bloodshed with your persistence, you need to know the limits of your ambitions.”

"My ambitions?"

The king grinned.

"I have devoted my entire life to serving His late Majesty and the people. I myself was once from a family of commoners and did not know the blessings that nobility enjoys. All I do here and all my people do is delay the beginning of the end as long as possible "All we need is to win and then peace will reign in the kingdom.”

"You will not win this war."

Granid said, and the king, according to the words of the old wizard, angrily hit the table with his fist, causing everyone around to flinch.

"I have to!"

The monarch shouted angrily.

"I won’t let the ogre become the king! I won’t let the warrior become the king! The king must be the one who deserves it! And I don’t yet see anyone worthy of this title except ME!”

Man, that's kind of what ambition is.

I noted to myself as I sipped some grape juice from a glass, although it didn’t taste like juice, but rather like wine.

Meanwhile, the king managed to calm down and begin to ask some questions, addressing me specifically.

"Now tell me who you are? What is your name?"

The question took me somewhat by surprise, but I still answered him having prepared in advance.

"Boris Kipito, Republic mercenary."

So we agreed to always answer the natives so as not to arouse unnecessary suspicion.

"I see. May I ask how much gold you want for hiring?”

"Not at all."

I answered honestly.

"We only need the right of passage through the kingdom's lands."

"You are already in the lands of Lakuus and you are accompanied by the former court magician Granid. You do not need the right of passage. So why do you need to help us?"

Well... I think he sees right through me, so I won’t hide too much from him.

"The Republic wants to establish friendly relations with all the states it can. We are already at war with the Antigone Empire, so we need all kinds of help and the Republic, in turn, will be ready to provide it to everyone who needs it.”

"So you want us to become debtors by offering us your help?”

The king said somewhat dismissively, and yet after all that he had voiced, he thought about it and rather quickly gave his answer.

"Fine."

"Your Majesty!"

A man in a red and gold uniform, who was called the military adviser, Krezhd Fayun, jumped up from his seat.

"I don't think such a decision can be made right away. It needs to be discussed in a circle behind closed doors."

"You know about the recent attack by the Imperials on Itsqueen, they entered our territory and killed many people, including the daughter of Count Laroy. It is only a matter of time before Antigonus attacks through the goblin forest and we will need all the support we can get."

"Yes, but what can these mercenaries do with thousands of enemy soldiers?”

After these words, all heads turned to me, even the servants were curiously awaiting my answer.

And what should I answer?

I thought about it and decided not to run around the wheel and simply answered:

"We can handle it."

I said confidently, turning my head towards Granid.

"We will finish them all off."