Not soon after the King and Queen of Azuria left the atmosphere of the castle became a little more casual. A lot of people found it surprising but after the last week alone, everyone wanted to relax. Sadly, some people always wanted to work.

“What do you mean the party is going on right now?” Duke Furukawa said, clearly angry but he didn’t get physical with his servant who managed to get the message to him.

“The party has been going on since morning. We received confirmation that everyone who was invited, at least as far as the last report, was already there.”

“What I want to know is why nobody from our side is there.”

“They weren’t invited. Sir.”

“How can this be? I thought that it was going to be a night party or something!”

“I’m sorry, sir. But that is our situation. Infiltration is not possible, we lost 3 men already. Good ones.”

“I didn’t ask anyone to infiltrate anything.”

“They are not our men.”

“...At least one light in this darkness.”

“What should I do now, sir?”

“Inform everyone, some people are getting ready for something that is not going to happen. Start with my own family if you can.” Duke Furukawa said after sighing.

“As you wish,sir.” The servant said before leaving the castle.

—-

Hinata Furukawa was furious. She spent the entire morning preparing herself for a party only to receive a message from her father that they weren’t invited to anything. She should have known that what he had said about a late invite going their way was a lie.

She screamed in anger and punched her pillows for a few minutes until she finally was calm again.

“It is unbecoming of a lady to act like that.” Her mother said to her.

“I told everyone that I was going to a party today! When people find out that I lied, my reputation will reach rock button.”

“That can be easily resolved. The problem now is that your father’s power play failed.” Hinata’s mother said strangely calmly.

“Why do you say that like it’s not a problem! Our standing is at risk.”

“Daughter of mine, let me tell you something that will set you free. I see no better time than now.”

“What!?”

“Nobody of importance gives a shit about what we do as long as things are running smoothly.”

“Mother…”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“It is true. If the nobles did their jobs and didn’t try to play with the powers of the king, we would all be happy. I know I am ever since I began to ignore all the expectations of the people around me.”

“But, but, don’t we need to work with other nobles? What if, because they don’t like us, they won’t do something with us that is necessary?”

“There are these things called laws that even we have to follow. One of them says that personal matters should never get in the way of the job of a noble. One letter to the royal family explaining everything and swift punishment will come. The nobles as a group might be as strong as the royal family but any of their members can easily fight a few of us.”

“Then what should I do?”

“If you didn’t have to be the pawn of your father, what would you want to do?”

“...Write a book?”

—----

“Hey, nice to meetcha!” The bald man said to the scrawny man as he was thrown into the jail cell.

“Fuck this! I will have my revenge!” The scrawny man shouted.

“I suggest you enjoy the rest of the day, we are not going to be here much longer.” An average looking woman in rags said.

“And who are you?” The scrawny man asked angrily.

“I am a spirit, he is a flesh golem and by your aura, I guess a demon, a weak one at that.” The woman said.

“Wait! What? How can you tell?”

“My master used one of you once. Whoever summoned you gave you the most impossible job possible to someone of our strength.”

“My job was to kill a little girl. How hard would that be?”

“Quite hard if you take into account that there is a literal army around her.” The flesh golem said.

“Look at the bright side. Since you are probably just a scout they will just free us from these bodies and we will return to where we came from.” The woman said.

“I only have this body but I hope I don't die. I quite like being alive.” The flesh golem said.

“He is very optimistic.”

“I can see.” The demon said.

“So, who summoned you?”

“A merchant. Poor one at that. I was the best thing he could summon by what he said.”

“My contractor is a noble lady. She is quite petty but she gives me lots of bodies so I can’t really complain.”

“Do you think they will give us our clothes back?” The flash golem asked.

“No.” The woman said.

“Shame. I liked my clothes, they looked like the ones the people with money were using.”

“Another one! You guys can have your own party soon.” The guard said as he tossed another person inside the cell before leaving.

“Zerot?” The new person asked the demon.

“Ashik?”

“Small world, ain’t it?”

“Merchant?”

“No, some dark mage. Summoned a few of us and the boss.”

“Little girl?”

“Yes. First time I got a job like that. Also, First time I was captured without even knowing what happened.”

“Is your boss a normal demon or a greater demon?” The woman asked.

“Greater.”

“Then it’s him…” The woman said as 4 people dragged a giant of a man to the cell. He was barely conscious.

“Boss?” The two demons asked.

“This was a trap…” The bigger demon said between bouts of conscience.

“At least now I feel less bad for having failed.” The woman said.

“What do you mean?” One of the lesser demons asked.

“Collective failure hurts less”

The demon looked at the woman with indignation but that didn’t help their situation. The cell was being filled faster than they would like. Little did they know that anyone not there was not returning anywhere, ever.

—--

Mia, her master, her father, Moon and Celestial stared at the small group of people that were now dead on the ground.

“Why did these people do this!?” Mia asked angrily.

“They are not people. They just look like people.” Celestial said.

“Yeah. They are not much more than dolls that we broke. Don’t worry. See, there isn’t even any blood.” Maximillian pointed to Mia.

“Well, can’t say I liked that something like this happened but fighting something is a good way to make you hungry. The others do seem like they want something now.” Huang said, pointing to the other groups of people that fought the party crashers.

“I think this was a bad idea of a prank or present. Don’t worry, we will take care of the bodies, you can continue with the party.” One of the guards said as other guards began to put the body inside magical bags or rings.

The little stunt didn’t really cause any panic and seemed to strangely invigorate the party. At least half the party joined the fight and seeing how other people fought gave new things to talk about. Who would imagine that putting a bunch of strong people together to fight would make them want to trade pointers?