"She is the fifth generation princess of Palaria, and the only daughter of Lord Rosworth's former teammate, the late third queen, Lady Elaine."
As soon as Granos let loose of the sentence, the atmosphere around the campfire turned deathly silent for an instance as the party sucked in a breath of cold air. While Serina seemed mildly surprised at the fact, her two older party members had donned upon complex expressions that were hard to describe.
The pupils of the wizard wavered. The look in his eyes instantly changed as he glanced at the figure of Lena laying beside the old man. A vivid mixture of both positive and negative emotions flickered on his face and even though the man had tried his best to mask it with a composed look, Serina was able to sense the slight change.
With a fierce grit of teeth, the friendly man's visage contorted into one of fury. Although the look in his eyes had softened for a moment, the man had shifted his gaze from the passed out girl before glaring at the old man with eyes narrowed to slits.
"Is that why you chose us?" he growled. "Because of our connection to this girl?"
"That is correct," Granos replied with calm.
Boom! crack!
All of a sudden, the friendly man pounded his fist on the ground like an angry hammer. The impact shook the entire cave as cracks ran along the walls and the rocky soil. If viewed from outside, it would look as if the entire mountain had spasmed with a purplish glow.
"Reginalt!" the wizard shouted. He had flinched at the unexpected outburst, while Serina had stumbled backward in surprise, falling on her butt atop pointed shards. Within an instant, the aloof young man had rushed into the scene with his drawn greatsword, glaring at Granos with killing intent. Just one order and he would cleave the old man from his waist.
"Tigre! Stay your hand!" with the wizard's uneasy shout, the young man lowered the weapon and relaxed his guard. Granos, surprisingly, hadn't even batted an eyelid during the entire scenario.
"I apologize Master Augrey..." the wizard made an apologetic face. "Reginalt! What are you doing?"
"You stay out of this Cradel!" Reginalt growled with fury. his eyes never leaving the faint smile on the old man's face.
Both Serina and Tigre were shocked to the core at the unusual atmosphere of their senior party member. No matter the case, Cradel always had the final say with any decision in their expeditions and there had never been a mismatch of opinions among the pair. But this time, their pragmatic and decisive leader had strangely quieted down all of a sudden.
"I get that she's Elaine's daughter, and we do have a responsibility in protecting her at all costs," Reginalt continued with his brows furrowed. "But that's not enough, old man."
"If you don't give a concrete enough explanation about your shadowy drama, and a clear reason for this heavy guilt on our conscience..." the man spoke in a heavy tone and each of his words was laced with an aura that felt like a boulder.
"...Then by Zygorath's name I swear, I will bury you right here!" the massive murderous intent drowned out the entire cave as Reginalt glared ahead, waiting for the old man to speak.
Serina's gaze turned equally vicious in the meanwhile. It was Granos himself who had asked to evacuate before the bandit raid and let the village face its ruin. Both herself and Reginalt had been vehemently opposed to the idea then but were silenced by the constraints of time and their leader Cradel, who held implicit trust for the old minister.
During the entire journey, they had been waiting for the old man to explain the situation in detail, but it has just been one request after another from the latter's side. Find a hideout, create a barrier, scout the region, and so on. It was not weird that apart from the wizard, the other's patience had long since run out.
"Master Reginalt, I can only detail you about the situation. Whether or not your inference leads to the same conclusion as me, I cannot guarantee. Of course, as long as you promise to protect the princess here, I would not mind resting my fate in your hands," Granos spoke, his serene smile had never diminished in the slightest as he gently patted the head of the sleeping girl.
"Let's hear it then."
"As you may have already guessed, there are forces that have been fiercely moving against the royal family of Palaria. Truly, such a thing sounds stupid to even any layman wandering the streets."
Over a century ago, the entire world of Eucleia had escaped a major catastrophe due to the acts of one man, Alistar. The hero's deeds remain fresh in the people's memories and additionally, many of the vast amounts of individuals rescued during that calamity still lived to this day. A multitude of organizations, religious groups, powerful families, and even entire races, directly owe the hero for their survival through the calamitous period.
And then there was mankind's largest religion, the Temple of Alathia that directly backs the hero's descendants since they carry the power bestowed by the benevolent goddess herself.
It would not be wrong to say that the newly formed Palaria held the most amount of political power on the continent as of today, and as long as there hasn't been any major error from the royal family's part, any stupid lot that dared to oppose them would be ripped apart in no time by the continent itself.
That is why even though war and dispute had persisted among the various nations following the calamity, Palaria had enjoyed a comparatively peaceful period to date. Even if the hero had long since departed for his heavenly abode, just his name held enough power to unify the vast land.
"The people instigating this conspiracy have not openly revealed themselves, inciting a skirmish behind the scenes through a third or even sometimes, fourth parties," Granos reasoned. "Now the question arises, who are 'they' and what benefit would it bring them if the royal family was taken down?"
"Isn't it just some greedy nobles vying for power?" Cradel responded in a bland tone. Such a thing was so common throughout history that more than half of the land's problems could be traced back to the phrase.
"But why would those nobles suddenly move after all this time? Don't they fear the people's retaliation? If even one name makes it out to the public..."
"It never is a case of royal family against nobles, Master Reginalt," Granos shook his head in refusal. "It is more like..."
"A few greedy and ambitious folks, against the ones who they think are obstructions to their goals, right?" Cradel finished the old man's words.
"Absolutely correct, Lord Rosworth. We don't have any clue as to who exactly is involved in this conspiracy. And if I expose just how far they have gone with it...." Granos abruptly halted, eyeing the young duo with reluctance.
Serina's eyes turned cold as ice in that instant as she glared at the old man with hate. Gritting her teeth along with a cute harrumph!, she proceeded to leave the cavern, dragging along the aloof and doll-like Tigre, until...
"Wait!" Cradel shouted. "Master Augrey, you have to bear with this one. They are precious teammates handpicked by me, and have the right to know what they are involved with."
Towards the unwavering attitude of the wizard, Granos silently nodded after pondering for a while. Serina immediately plopped back to her seat, gazing at her leader with affection while simultaneously glaring at the old man with towering scorn.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"The thing is..." Granos began his explanation in a solemn tone...
"Within the last decade, over six individuals with royal blood have already lost their lives in misfortunate accidents, and most importantly, we have lost any contact with His Highness the King since his expedition due north."
.
"...what?"
...and started right away with another bomb. A series of breathtaking secrets flew out of the old man's mouth much to the group's sheer bewilderment. Serina had followed the initial phases of the narration but didn't bother any more as the talk became more and more political. She rather eyed her leader's ever-changing visage that seemed as if he had used decades worth of expression within this short interval. Each of the old man's words appeared to have detonated within his mind and an ugly frown had pertained throughout upon his handsome face.
.
"fuuu! That makes up everything I have known," Granos exhaled a heavy breath as he finished his long narration. "The decision is up for you to make."
After the frantic overload of information, Cradel and Reginalt's breathing appeared slightly erratic. Sweat glistened up their foreheads and their deeply furrowed brows spoke volumes about the immensity of the knowledge they had gained.
Although she somewhat got the gist, Serina's gaze of scorn towards the old man hadn't reduced in the slightest while Tigre had already left to stand guard at some point, completely uninterested in political talks.
"I wonder what Master Reginalt thinks about this," Granos spoke, eyeing the perplexed face of the friendly man who caressed his french beard, deep in thought.
"Tch," Reginalt averted his eyes while folding his arms, giving his consent at the old man's decision.
"I would like to ask something, Master Augrey."
"Definitely, Lord Rosworth."
"If that basta--, umm apologies. If the king has been missing for a decade, and yourself, the chief minister has been taking care of.....Elaine's daughter for all these years, then just who is governing the palace? And just how have all these explosive incidents been covered up? Even as high rankers in the guild, we had no such exposure."
"To answer the first question..." a faint smile laced the old man's face. "The crown prince has been temporarily presiding over matters. But I deeply beg your pardon, the rest is a national secret and is something I cannot disclose unless His Highness removes my restraints," Granos ended with an apologetic tone.
"Oh, That is so. It is fine, Master Augrey. I understand your position," Cradel replied in a polite tone as his eyes narrowed.
"I very well know that Lord Rosworth's relationship with His Highness goes back to his days as a prince, and he had specifically pointed out your name as a source of assistance before he had left all those years ago. I would be very grateful if your esteem self decides to join us in an attempt to pull away from this rotting roots from the kingdom," Granos politely asked as he bowed down.
The wizard plunged into a deep train of thought as he grasped his chin. Glancing beside, Reginalt had turned his face away as if not wanting to contribute to the conversation any further. Serina almost got flustered to squeeze out an opinion when the wizards gaze landed on her but it was only for a brief second before the man became lost in thoughts again. After a good few minutes of silence, Cradel opened his mouth...
"It is a pity..."
"Hmm!?" Granos almost sprang to his feet in anxiousness.
"About the village I mean!" Cradel hastily recited.
"O-Oh!" a rare fluster adorned the old man's face.
"You assume funny things, Master Augrey. If you really wanted to keep us out of this mess, you wouldn't have asked us to present ourselves to the villagers. Now the other party exactly knows about our involvement and wouldn't hesitate to bare their arms. Did we even have any other option since the beginning?
"I must say, Elaine's name in your letter had blinded my thoughts, exactly as you wanted right?" the wizard spoke with a not so smiley face as Reginalt let loose a sarcastic hmph!.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures, Lord Rosworth. I do apologize if I hurt your feelings in any manner," Granos said as he slightly bowed. "About the village, yes, it was an unfortunate sacrifice. They were all...good people," the old man added in as he eyed the ground, hiding his expressions.
"It's not worth an apology. That's just how this world functions. But the pity I meant was for a specific individual and I feel that this land just lost a future potential."
"Oh?"
"There was this particular child in the inn. I wasn't able to see through him at all... as if everything was hidden within a dark ominous mist."
"You mean the kid that arrived with the village chief right?" Reginalt said with a curious sparkle. "He appeared special. He was able to accurately sense our auras but never once had his expression crumbled. A fine talent."
"I believe you are talking about Legas," Granos spoke. "Yes, that kid is smart and responsible. A rare maturity for his age. Truly a pity."
"sigh Fate is just that cruel sometimes."
"Very true, it is the brightest flower that is always plucked first."
...........
...........
The old folks went on with a diverse discussion of the supernatural much to the boredom filled eyes of Serina. What the group hadn't noticed in the meanwhile, was the slight twitch of the girl's physique besides the campfire as her eyelids gradually unfolded after a long and forceful sleep.
----------------------------------------
"What the hell happened here!!" a raspy voice rang out within the trees, disturbing the tragic peace that had permeated the region.
Seven people from the bandit brigade had arrived at a certain part of the forest, and could not help but open their mouths wide in surprise at the inconceivable scene displayed in front. Dyed red in resplendent blood, a nose wrenching putrid smell occupied the ground ahead that appeared no different than a butcher's store, and made for a contrasting gleam within the dark woods.
The most eye-catching (or not so?) thing was the severed head of their once bandit friend that had displayed the most horrified expression the group could ever imagine, striking a wave of chill up their spines. His kneeling body remained not far away, a visceral splatter of entrails spilled in front that pointed the savage spectators towards the gaping hole on the man's torso.
A considerable distance from the man's corpse, following a deep trail on the shallow vegetation, were the figures of the two siblings. The small girl lay on her back, strange and vicious cracks visible all over her pale skin. A contrastingly beautiful smile pertained on her face, making for very tragic imagery for any heart full being.
The boy, in the shortest possible way, appeared miserable. Kneeling beside the girl with a drooped and downcast head, a multitude of bruises and wounds could be seen upon his bare upper body. Dried blood covered the face, that was distorted enough with mangled flesh and mucus to resemble the visage of an ugly ghoul. He simply knelt like a statue, not a wisp of presence being emanated from within him. Only the slight heaving of his chest served as proof for one to ascertain that he was, in fact still alive.
"Just what the hell is this!!" the raspy voice exclaimed for a second time, the sheer disbelief in his voice being openly displayed.
A distinct blonde mohawk stood erect atop his bald head and the man's face appeared comical with a bloody distorted nose. The bandit looked upon at the incredulous image with widened eyes and a fierce grit of teeth.
To not let the nimble hunter escape, the mohawk bandit had asked for help to the other brigand members in case the two brutes failed at the job. Amidst the search, hearing the sharp whistle that had echoed throughout, the man had rushed forth with resolve, not to let the siblings slip by again. But never in a sane mind had he expected such a situation to await his arrival and could only stand tongue-tied, looking at the dreadful head of his longtime friend.
"Pfft! haha! Hahahahah!!" the mohawk bandit was pulled out of his trance by a burst of resounding laughter.
"Omg, I'm dying here! To think there were such idiots among us. Boss would cry if he ever saw this.", a well-proportioned man walked out from the group as he casually approached their late member. The mohawk bandit displayed an unpleasant face of anger, but he swallowed back an outburst of words with a bitter taste.
The bandit, with his arrogant words and haughty stride, reached the decapitated head in no time before,
patt! bang!
he kicked it with all his might. The dreadful head of the dead bandit flew like a bullet among the woods before it exploded with a gory splatter on hitting one of the boulders in the distance.
"You!!" the mohawk bandit had his eyes turn bloodshot as his body tensed, ready to pounce ahead. But a single glare from the arrogant bandit silenced him in reluctance.
"Our brigade has no use for weaklings," he stated, looking down at the dismayed faces of the rest, before continuing with his haughty stroll towards the hunter boy.
"Is he that woman's son?" the man asked, lifting the wretched body of Legas with a vice-like grip on the boy's skull. "Well, he looks to be more or less dead.
"Aren't you a lucky guy eh? Hahaha," the man pointed at the fuming face of the mohawk guy as he continued. "If you had followed your idiot boys here, we may rightfully have had another member down, right? Hahaha."
The mohawk guy clenched his fists tight with shivering anger as he glared at the man, his eyes spitting out flames of fury.
"Hah? What? You wanna have a go?" the haughty bandit turned his face to a menacing frown that threatened the latter for a second time. As the bandit turned his eyes away with contempt, the haughty man glanced at the figure of the girl beside.
"Ah, Ah. what a pity. She appeared to be one of the high-quality goods. We could have fetched a lot of mon------!!!"
It was in an instant. Just as the bandit stood babbling on with his words, the lifeless body of the boy suddenly went taut like a bowstring. A small hand curled it's path around to the man's mouth like the strike of a viper while the bandit was still talking. The man didn't have any time to even change his expression at the sudden sense of danger as the small hand entered into his mouth with inexplicable timing and,
"You talk too much."
riip!
...tore apart the energetic tongue with a guttural noise.